Campus Shooter at Penn State in 1996 is Denied Parole
“parole was denied due to the nature of her crimes”
I didn’t recall this incident, but I’m glad the shooter was denied parole.
Onward State reports:
Penn State 1996 Campus Shooter Denied Parole After 30 Years
The woman charged with killing a Penn State student and wounding another during a 1996 shooting at University Park, Jillian Robbins, was denied her first chance at parole, according to the Centre Daily Times.
Robbins will stay in prison for another three decades for her crimes during one of the most violent acts in Penn State’s history. The decision to deny her parole came on June 3.
The 49-year-old is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence at Muncy State Prison in Lycoming County. Her maximum sentence ends on September 20, 2056.
The Pennsylvania Parole Board said in a decision obtained by the Centre Daily Times that parole was denied due to the nature of her crimes. Robbins will next be reviewed in May 2027.
The decision to deny parole comes in spite of a recommendation for her release from the state Department of Corrections. Robbins has seemingly kept a clean conduct record while in jail. A Penn State spokesperson told the Centre Daily Times the university’s police department was not involved in the decision.
Robbins pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree murder and four counts of attempted first-degree murder in 1998, in an act of violence former university President Graham Spanier called “unprecedented.”
The then-19-year-old opened fire with a rifle equipped with a telescopic sight at 9:35 a.m. on September 17, 1996. Robbins was prone in a bush, aiming at the lawn in front of what is now the HUB.
Robbins took five shots, killing Melanie Spalla with a shot to the back from 100 feet away, and severely injuring Nicholas Mensah. The three other bullets barely missed other students, with one stopped from hitting someone by a backpack.
During the investigation, Robbins claimed to not know the victims and said she “just decided to shoot.”
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Comments
She should never be let out. Murder is murder. Killing people you don’t even know is worse. What a wonder! A parole board who understands.
Didn’t she get the word that she should have claimed “anxiety?”
It came this —> <— close to working for Dylann Roof.
What might have justified parole? Amputation of both hands? That could be adequate rehabilitation and afford society protection from repeating the crimes.
I wonder if she would go along with that.
The story references former Ped State Graham Spanier, but does not mention that Spanier also served prison time for his conspiracy with Ped State coaches Joe Paterno and Jerry Sandusky to groom and sell child sexual services to high ranking University officials and wealthy donors. The story also fails to explain that the Centre County District Attorney at the time, Ray Gricar, insisted that the death penalty would be sought (but mysteriously and quietly dropped. Also mysterious was Ray Gricar’s disappearance.)
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