May Be Freed After 64 Years In Gaol

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30219, 26 August 1963, Page 11

May Be Freed After 64 Years In Gaol

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright)

CHESTER (Illinois), August 25. Richard Honeck is 84 years old and has spent 64 of these years in prison, the ‘‘New York Times” reported today.

He was convicted of murdering his former school teacher in 1899, when he was 20, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Honeck, whom wardens at the Menard Penitentiary in Chester say is a good prisoner, has never seen the outside world of the twentieth century. The authorities believe the length of time he has spent in prison is a record.

He has received only one letter and two visitors in his long stay in gaol. The letter was a four-line note from his brother 59 years ago. Honeck says he wrote a few letters to his sisters when he was first imprisoned, but stopped shortly afterwards.

His visitors were a friend who came to see him in 1904 and a reporter who learned about Honeck recently and called on him at the prison. A prison warden said Honeck would be likely to be paroled in November, “but he simply does not have any place to go.”

Honeck does not even know now if his brother and sisters are still alive. When he was first sent to gaol, the State of Illinois did not have parole for life prisoners. He first became eligible for it in 1949, when he had already spent almost a lifetime behind bars, but there was

no-one on the outside he could turn to for help if he were released. Honeck commented on parole: “I guess I’d have to be pretty careful if I got paroled. There must be an awful lot of traffic now and people compared to what I remember."

A prison warden said Honeck was a quiet man. “He doesn’t go out of his way to talk to people, but he is friendly with - the other inmates and gets along well. The old fellow has little interest in matters other than his work.”