By GLENN PUIT REVIEW-JOURNAL.(article appeared in the Las Vegas Review Journal on Sunday May 21, 2006) More than a decade ago, Heather Rehn-Bonwell sat in court and watched as her father's killers were sentenced to life in prison for a double-slaying.
Nearly 12 years later, Rehn-Bonwell said she was shocked to learn that one of those killers, Richard Hinger, now is a free man. "We were originally told he was going to do 40 years, minimum," Rehn-Bonwell said.. "Now he's free. No parole, no probation, no nothing," the Henderson resident said.
Making matters worse, Rehn-Bonwell said, is that she and her family weren't notified of the release of Hinger, 69, until more than a month after the fact.
"We didn't even know about it," Rehn-Bonwell said.
Hinger's defense attorney, Federal Public Defender Franny Forsman, could not be reached for comment.
Clark County prosecutor Eric Jorgenson said evidentiary problems in the old case prompted presecuters to tender a second-degree murder plea to Hinger in January after it became clear to authorities that he was likely going to get a new trial.
When Hinger went back before a judge for resentencing as part of the plea deal in January, District Judge Sally Loehrer sentenced him to 12 years in prison.
With credit for the 12 years he served in prison, and good behavior time he'd accumulated in jail, Hinger was free to go.
"I felt that he was a very low risk as far as danger to the community," Loehrer said Tuesday when contacted fby the Review Journal.
It was not clear where Hinger lives. Rehn-Bonwell said she thought Hinger was still in Las Vegas. Others had heard he is living in Illinois.
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