Family killer Brian Britton denied parole; next hearing scheduled May 2023
Brian Britton, the Town of Poughkeepsie man convicted of killing his father, mother and brother, will remain in prison after being denied parole for the sixth time.
Britton, 49, appeared before the state Board of Parole on Nov. 17 and was subsequently denied, according to the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
However, rather than a two-year wait, the next time Britton will be eligible for a parole hearing was set for May 2023. A reason for the accelerated timeline was not immediately clear.
On March 22, 1989, 16-year-old Brian Britton shot and killed his father, Dennis, his mother, Marlene, and brother, Jason. He also shot his sister, Sherry Shafer, who was 18 at the time and survived.
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Britton is serving a 25-years-to-life sentence at Fishkill Correctional Facility
Shafer did not return a call seeking comment on the decision. She has been outspoken in past years lobbying for her brother to remain in prison.
The hearings have been a regular source of stress for her family at the beginnings of holiday seasons. State law requires the parole board reconsider an inmate for release no longer than two years after the person is denied. He was first up for parole in November 2013.
Former Dutchess County Judge Judith Hillery called the crime "one of the most horrendous" she had presided over, according to Journal archives.
Britton, an Arlington High School sophomore at the time of the murders, told police that his family had been shot by a masked intruder, according to Journal archives. He later confessed to shooting his parents and siblings with a shotgun.
At the time, Britton alleged that his parents were physically and verbally abusive toward him, and that they argued frequently. More recently, he blamed changes in the medication he was taking at the time, according to parole hearing minutes from 2017.
Had the case gone to trial and Britton was convicted, he faced possible consecutive sentences for the three murders and an assault charge from shooting Shafer. Instead, he agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a single sentence of 25 years to life.
Geoffrey Wilson: gwilson@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4882, Twitter: @GeoffWilson_
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Brian Britton denied parole; eligible again May 2023
