More N.Y. criminals get parole under Spitzer administration

New York parole officials are speeding up the release of hard-core criminals who spent decades behind bars - including violent murderers and cop killers.

Parole boards under Gov. Spitzer are springing jailbirds at a far higher rate than they did during Gov. George Pataki's administration, state Division of Parole figures show.

One of the lucky prisoners is convicted killer Maurice Murrell, 40, of Brooklyn.

Just two years ago, board commissioners rejected Murrell's bid, saying his criminal past shows a "propensity for extreme violence and a disrespect for human life."

But Thursday, after 23 years in prison, Murrell was released.

Another recently freed killer is Richard Winkler, who did a 26-year stretch for blowing away his father with a shotgun in North Tarrytown, Westchester County. He was released in September, and has been living quietly in Manhattan.

Gerald Balone was freed in August after serving 30-plus years for killing three people in Buffalo with a hammer and a handgun.

And Harry Morrison, who served 27 years for giving his ailing wife a drug overdose and smothering her with a pillow in upstate Broome County, was released in July.

Parole Board spokesman Mark Johnson insisted there is no mandate for commissioners to release more inmates and "no directive to tell anybody to behave any differently."

Yet state figures show that while Pataki's parole boards released A-1 felons at a 3% to 5% rate between 2000 and 2005, in the first 10 months of this year the release rate climbed to 10%.

Asked to explain the increase, one Spitzer insider said, "The commissioners may feel freer now to exercise their discretion. The only thing we expect of our agencies and our commissioners is to follow the law."

Senate GOP leader Joe Bruno said reports of a higher inmate release rate "in the first year of the Spitzer administration are disturbing. We support longer sentences for convicted felons, especially for those who kill police officers."

Supporters of Murrell, Winkler and Balone say they are not the men they used to be.

"He's trying to get on with his life," said a woman who lives with Winkler on the East Side.

Murrell earned a college degree in prison and is the father of a daughter named Jasmine, according to his Web site.

Balone told the Parole Board he was no longer "a parasite."

"I'll be paying my debt forever," he said at his eighth hearing.

Relatives of their victims said the men should be rotting in jail.

"I find this quite shocking to hear that he's out," said James Jabcuga, a retired Buffalo police officer and nephew of two of Balone's victims. "If you saw my uncle and aunt, you'd know they'd never hurt a fly. These decisions should be based on the gravity of the crime, and I can tell you they were butchered."

The Parole Board began easing up after Pataki, who once proposed eliminating parole entirely, was sued for systematically rejecting bids for release.

Now, under a settlement being worked out with the Spitzer administration, roughly 1,000 violent convicts will get new hearings. That group includes cop-killers Osborne (Sonny) Boalds, Pablo Costello and Barrington Young.

On the steps of City Hall Saturday, cops and Republican lawmakers urged Spitzer not to let the "worst of the worst" back on city streets.

S.I./Brooklyn) and the family of slain officer Harry Ryman, who was killed by Young. "This get out of jail free card is just the wrong thing to do," said state Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn). He was joined by Rep. Vito Fossella (R-

"This is not what the people of this state elected the governor to do. They elected him to keep them safe," Golden said.