LINCOLN, Nebraska - The Nebraska Board of Pardons reviewed 58 cases today and a number were denied, including an application for clemency from Caril Ann Fugate Clair. After a list of names of those denied pardons were read, the Board then explained more as to why the 76 year old's request wasn't granted.
A Board member stated, "Ms. Clair gave a us a reason for her request for a pardon is the idea that my posterity has been made to believe I knew about and or witnessed the death of my beloved family and left with Starkweather on a murder spree is too much for me to bear anymore. Receiving a pardon may somehow alleviate this terrible burden."
The Board stated they addressed this issue in 1973 and gave her commutation. She was released from prison in 1976. A spokesperson says the role of the Board is limited as a pardon does not erase a record. A pardon restores the right to vote, serve on a jury, hold public office to bear arms, admission to certain professional schools or licensing, to serve in the military or the right to get a passport and none of those were being sought here. Her requests were beyond the scopes of the Pardons Board.
In 1958, then Caril Ann Fugate was 14 years old and accompanied Charles Starkweather on a killing spree that left eleven people dead. Starkweather was executed in June of 1959. Clair was sentenced to life in prison and later paroled.