Parole Granted for Killer in Attack on Gay Man

A man serving a 45-year sentence for a murder he committed while on a joy ride to "beat up some queers" will be released on parole after 18 years behind bars, the Houston Chroniclereports.

Jon Buice was part of the infamous Woodlands 10, a group of mostly high school-age boys who tracked Paul Broussard and two friends in the summer of 1991 after they left a gay nightclub called Heaven. The boys unloaded from two cars and began beating Broussard, including with a 2-by-4, and Buice admits stabbing him. The two friends managed to escape.

Although Buice once testified that the group intended to "beat up some queers" and were carrying "queer rocks" for throwing at passersby, he later apologized in an open letter to the gay community, saying "it was never my intention to harm anyone."

The letter was printed in the Houston Voice as a "repentance for an act of atrocity."

"If it were possible, I would sacrifice my own life to bring Paul back. But this is not conceivable. And I aspire that you will hear the cries of who I am today," Buice wrote. "As I've grown older, I have gained a more relative understanding of what took place that night in Houston. It was never my intention to harm anyone. Never could I possibly imagine I would take a human life."

Broussard's mother, Nancy Rodriguez, fought against parole, which was granted in a 2-0 vote.

"In my heart I feel that he's going to hurt somebody else," she said Tuesday, according to the Chronicle.

Activist Ray Hill once led the campaign to investigate the murder but is now known as a chief advocate for Buice's release, saying he's realized through conversations with Buice that the murder was the action of a 17-year-old kid and not a hate crime.