Petition to Deny Parole for Brian M. McCarthy

On September 1, 1986, Katherine Hawelka, a 19 year old college sophomore died after a brutal attack on the campus of Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY at the hands of Brian M. McCarthy. He viciously attacked her as she was walking on campus. He raped and strangled her, beating her so severely that she was unrecognizable due to the head and face trauma she sustained. She never regained consciousness after this heinous attack. Brian McCarthy had just been released on parole three months prior to this attack.

Her convicted murderer, Brian McCarthy, plead guilty on Thursday, August 13, 1987 and was convicted to 23 years to life for her murder. He was denied parole at his first hearing in 2009. New York State law allows for subsequent parole hearings every 24 months. Every two years, my brother, mother, sister and I meet with the Victim Impact Unit of NYS Corrections Dept to make formal statements to ask for his parole to continue to be denied. Every 24 months we recount the horrific details for her murder and the lack of remorse and repeated offenses that her killer has shown while in prison. Every 24 months, we remind them that in one of his parole hearings, he didn’t even know Katy’s name when asked about his victim. We remind them of the beautiful life that he took and how we miss her every day.

Every 24 months we present our ongoing online petition to the board as a way to remind them that she is not forgotten, and we demand justice for the life he took. Justice demands that he be made to spend every day of his life in prison for taking the life of an innocent victim.