George Lincoln Rockwell Assassin Paroled
In 1967, American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell was gunned down in a shopping center parking lot in Arlington, Virginia, by former party member John Patler as Rockwell sat in his car outside a laundromat. A jury convicted Patler of first-degree murder later that year, rejected the prosecutor's push for a death sentence, and instead recommended the most lenient penalty allowed, so the judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
After Patler began serving that term, the presiding judge, Charles S. Russell, took the extraordinary step of writing a supportive letter to the parole board, something he never did in any other case. With that backing, Patler was paroled after serving less than four years on his murder sentence, despite having assassinated a national political figure.