President Joe Biden’s decision to commute the death sentences of 37 inmates, including two men who killed a West Virginia college student, sparked strong criticism from outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin on Thursday.
In 2002, Brandon Basham and Chadrick Fulks escaped from a Kentucky jail and went on a three-week crime spree. During that time, they abducted and killed 19-year-old Samantha Burns, a Marshall University student, from a mall in West Virginia... Continue reading here ▶
Burns disappeared after leaving her job at JC Penney, and her remains were never found. The men later admitted to killing her during a carjacking as part of a plea deal. They also confessed to murdering another woman, Alice Donovan.
On December 23, after reportedly meeting with Pope Francis, who had prayed for the commutation of all federal death row sentences, President Biden reduced the sentences of Basham and Fulks to life in prison without parole. Three inmates were excluded from the commutations: the Boston Marathon co-conspirator, the Tree of Life synagogue shooter in Pittsburgh, and a white supremacist who killed nine people at a church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Sen. Joe Manchin, who recently left the Democratic Party to become an independent, strongly opposed Biden’s decision.
“After speaking with Samantha Burns’ parents, I feel it’s my duty to speak on their behalf,” Manchin said. “President Biden’s decision to commute the death sentences for the men who brutally murdered their daughter is horribly misguided and deeply insulting.”
Manchin revealed that the Burns family had written letters to Biden and the Justice Department, begging them not to commute the sentences, but their pleas were ignored.
“I can’t imagine the pain that Kandi and John Burns are reliving, especially during the holiday season,” Manchin added. “As their senator and as a father, I want to express my deepest sympathy for their ongoing suffering. Samantha will forever remain in our prayers.”
Manchin’s term as a senator for West Virginia ends in January.
