CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Senator Joe Manchin says President Joe Biden should not have commuted the death sentences of Chad Fulks and Brandon Basham in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of Marshall University co-ed Samantha Burns.
Manchin said Friday on MetroNews “Talkline” that Biden should have considered the feelings of Burns’ parents who are still grieving 22 years after the crime. Manchin said Biden considered his own feelings as a parent when he pardoned his son Hunter Biden earlier this year.
“On the other hand, couldn’t he (President Biden) use the same consideration for a family that has lost their child and never seen that child and in this case never having closure, never could have closure to that beautiful child,” Manchin said.
Burns, 19, of Lincoln County, was taken from the parking lot of the Huntington Mall and murdered. Her burned out car was found but her remains have never been located.
Fulks and Basham killed Burns and Myrtle Beach-area resident Alice Donovan during a 17-day violent crime spree after escaping from a Kentucky jail. Donovan’s remains were found in January 2009 and confirmed by DNA testing later that year.
The commutation from Biden means Fulks and Basham are now sentenced to life in prison without the chance for parole. They are two of 37 federal death row inmates that Biden commuted this week.
Manchin spoke to Burns’ parents, John and Kandi Burns, Thursday.
“I wanted to talk to them first, where they were, and what they would like for me to do if possible,” Manchin said.
The Burns were notified by the U.S. Department of Justice two-and-half months ago that the commutations were a possibility. He said the Burns then wrote letters to the DOJ and President Biden pleading for this not to happen. He said those pleas were ignored.
“This not what they had hoped for. They did not forgive these people. Their daughter is not coming back,” Manchin said.
Manchin said Biden may be personally against the death penalty but he should put the feelings of the victims before his own.
“I would have the parents have the final say on that. As president, it would be what the parents say or the grieved families but that what was not taken into consideration,” Manchin said. “Why in the world did they reach out to them? There’s a moral responsibility and obligation that you have to he remaining people in society that have to do with this. That was not done.
Basham and Fulks pleaded guilty to Burns’ murder in 2009. Fulks was temporarily released from prison to aid investigators in the search for Burns’ remains. But the efforts were unsuccessful.
Manchin said he would have not spoken out had not Burns’ parents given him the okay to do.
“I just it was just absolutely horrendous and heartless to do this, especially right at Christmas time and if John and Kandi had not wanted me I would not put a statement out but I could not sit still and not do it once they asked me,” Manchin said.