Convicted killers serving hard time

At least 15 convicted killers from Warren and Van Buren counties are currently serving hard time for their crimes, with most of them likely to be very old before they get to plead their case for early release before the parole board.

A study conducted by the Southern Standard has researched the whereabouts of incarcerated murderers who were convicted of criminal homicides in the 31st Judicial District since 1990. It was learned two-thirds of the group do not even have parole dates, while others have parole eligibility dates which will take them well into their golden years behind bars.

Of the 15 inmates researched, the earliest scheduled parole eligibility date is for Margie Farley, who is serving a 37-year sentence at the Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville for her part in the beating, robbery and murder of Louie Johnson on Old Smithville Road in 2000.

Farley has an eligibility date of July 2010. However, should she be turned down she could have to wait until February 2035, when she will be 65 years old, for freedom, since her sentence does not flatten until then. She has already been turned down once for parole.

Her sentence would flatten after her co-defendant, and the man who actually beat Johnson to death with her tire iron, Eric Sullivan, who is set to flatten his sentence in February 2033. That would make Sullivan 68.

Sullivan has not been given a parole eligibility date since he was ordered to serve 100 percent of his sentence. Sullivan remains held at the Southeastern Correctional Complex in Pikeville.

Having the next closest chance at parole is Johnny Lewis, who is serving a 65-year sentence for his part in the Myers Lane triple murders of Dianne Watts, 42, Jessica Watts, 10, and Chelsie Smith, 13. Lewis was convicted of setting the fire to cover the murders committed by his friend, Doug Myers.

At present, Lewis, who is being held at the Northwest Correctional Facility in Tiptonville, is set for parole eligibility in April 2012 after serving about 12 years. If he is turned down he could have to flatten his sentence by serving until April 2038, although parole dates can also be set at various times in between the date of first refusal and the flattening date.

His partner in crime, Doug Myers, has no parole hearing date since he is serving consecutive life sentences at the Morgan County Correctional Complex in Wartburg for the murders.

Three other local killers have parole dates which are next to useless since all three first become eligible for parole during the same year, that being 2061. Chris Tatrow, serving life in the same facility as Myers for the 1995 torture and murders of two local men who were later dumped at the bottom of Hurricane Bridge, will be 93 when he becomes eligible.

John Allen Chapman, convicted of abducting, raping and killing Pit Stop South employee Michelle Blake in 1990, and later raping and murdering Indiana nun Vickie Metzger, will be 94 when he comes before a parole board in 2061 at the Southereastern Corrections facility in Pikeville

Joining that group will be Jody Lee McCormick who will be 88 when he comes up for parole for strangling a local car dealer who caught him in the act of burglarizing his business on Viola Road. He is at the Northeastern Corrections facility in Mountain City.

While not having a parole date, Dorene Jones will flatten her sentence in November 2020 for starving a man for whom she was supposed to be providing care. She will be 65 if she is released then. She is serving her time at the Mark H. Lutrell facility in Memphis.

Jeremiah Ginn will be among the youngest when he gets out of prison for shooting his former best friend to death during a dispute. Ginn, serving his time at the Turney Center in Only, is set to flatten his sentence in March 2024 and will emerge at age 48.

Robert Christian will be getting out near the same time for beating a handicapped man to death with the victim?s own cane in Spencer. Christian will flatten his sentence in May 2021 as he does not have a parole eligibility date. He is close to home at the Southeastern facility in Pikeville.

Fellow Van Buren resident Jerrie Bryant, serving her time at the Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville, will flatten her time in December 2027 when she is 71. She was convicting for killing her ex-husband outside their Baker Mountain Road home.

The most recent and youngest addition to the list, 19-year-old Joshua Jacobs, has no chance of parole for the murder and rape of an 89-year-old Centertown woman. He will remain at Hardeman County Corrections facility for life plus 25 years. He, like fellow local offenders Doug Myers and Ruben Pimentel, convicted of burning a woman to death in a dispute over drugs, has no chance of parole. Pimentel is at the Turney Center in Only.

While having a chance of parole, Jimmy Lee Rutledge has not even begun serving his sentence for the murder of a man back in the early 1990s, in which Rutledge shot the victim several times and stuffed his body into a trunk. Rutledge is presently serving a 24-year sentence in federal prison for being caught in possession of a gun while being a convicted felon.

Rutledge?s time will begin building on the murder only after he serves all his federal sentence. The combined sentences are, in essence, a life sentence since Rutledge is already in his 50s.

The status of a 16th inmate, Darryl Farmer, convicted for the shooting death of a local man in 1993, could not be found in the search of the state?s databases for unknown reasons. He was given life with chance of parole following his conviction.

To be granted parole applicants must get the nod from four members of the state parole board, generally given only upon the recommendation of the parole hearing officer.