Parole to be considered for 181 inmates across the state

Public hearing will be Friday morning in Landon State Office Building.

Three men convicted of murder -- two in Shawnee County and a third in Geary County -- are among 181 Kansas prison inmates being considered for parole next week.

The Kansas Parole Board will hear public comments about the possible parole of eligible inmates from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday in room 106-A of Landon State Office Building, 900 S.W. Jackson.

Public hearings also will be from 9 a.m. to noon today at City Hall in Kansas City, Kan., and from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday in room 3080 of Finney State Office Building in Wichita.

Written comments may be sent to the parole board at room 452-S, Landon State Office Building, 900 S.W. Jackson, Topeka, 66612-1220.

Parole-eligible inmates won't be present at the public hearings.

Among inmates to be considered for parole are three men, two convicted of separate stabbing deaths in Shawnee and Geary counties and a third man convicted of shooting another man at a north Topeka service station.

Elmer E. Barncord, 37, was convicted in December 1984 for the stabbing death of Topekan Carl James Baldwin, 23. Baldwin was stabbed 65 times on the north stairway of the Kansas Avenue Bridge that leads to the pedestrian walkway above the bridge.

Barncord was sentenced to life in prison for the murder and is in Lansing Correctional Facility. He also received a concurrent term of 15 years to life for robbing Baldwin of $14. A codefendant, Henry Johnson, also received life in prison for the murder.

Frank Pencek Jr., 51, an El Dorado Correctional Facility inmate, is serving two life sentences and another of five to 20 years for the kidnapping, rape and stabbing death in May 1974 of Elizabeth Bush, 20. Bush disappeared while working at a state park toll booth at Milford Lake, northwest of Junction City.

The only point of issue in Pencek's four-day trial was his sanity.

Ronald G. Shaffer, 49, is serving a life sentence at Hutchinson Correctional Facility for the Feb. 29, 1976, first-degree murder of 16-year-old Donald Becker. Becker was shot to death in a robbery of the north Topeka service station where he worked. Shaffer also was convicted of aggravated robbery and unlawful possession of firearms.

Shaffer has been considered for parole three times. He also has a 1978 conviction for voluntary manslaughter and a 1988 conviction for attempted escape from custody. Both crimes were committed in prison.

The following parole-eligible inmates were convicted of felonies committed in Shawnee and adjoining counties:n B Shawnee County -- /B Paul D. Brost, robbery, theft, giving a worthless check and aggravated failure to appear; Tyrone Crawford, rape and aggravated burglary; Robert Mixon (includes a Reno County conviction), aggravated robbery, aggravated battery and aggravated escape from custody; Redonnal J. Munn, robbery and forgery; Daniel R. Patton, two convictions for aggravated assault, burglary and theft; Ronald Randell (includes two Wyandotte County convictions), aggravated robbery, theft and aggravated juvenile delinquency; Mark L. Riggins, aggravated robbery; Howard W. Taylor (includes a Leavenworth County conviction), indecent liberties with a child, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, burglary, two counts of theft and drug offenses;n B Douglas County -- /B Robert E. Bornemeier, indecent liberties with a child; William D. Norris, three counts of robbery and one count of forgery; Vernon J. Turner, aggravated sexual battery;n B Geary County -- /B Ronald Graham, drug offenses; Garland T. Hill (includes a Riley County conviction), theft and drug offenses; Bill J. Oxier, a drug offense and obstruction; Aaron K. Purnell, robbery; Henry J. Swan, rape; Charles Tolliver, indecent liberties with a child; Elbert W. Williams (includes a Leavenworth County conviction), aggravated sodomy, kidnapping and trafficking contraband in a correctional institution;n B Lyon County -- /B Cynthia Mills, robbery and two drug offenses; Joe L. Stewart Jr., aggravated sodomy and aggravated burglary; Louis A. Turner (includes Johnson County convictions), robbery, theft and two convictions for drug offenses;n B Pottawatomie County -- /B James H. Patterson, indecent liberties with a child.

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