NORTH COAST, Calif. – State officials this week denied parole to a Mendocino County man convicted of torturing his ex-girlfriend by setting her on fire in 2001.
The California Board of Parole Hearings denied parole for the fifth time to Gregory Patrick Beck, 55, at a six-hour hearing on Tuesday at Soledad Correctional Training Facility.
The parole board denied Beck's bid for release based on his continuing evasiveness, his minimizing of what he did and his "need to come to terms with the truth,” according to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office.
Beck was convicted in 2002 of gravely injuring Sherry Carlton, age 32 at the time of the attack, by means of torture, assault with caustic chemicals and corporal injury on a cohabitant.
In 2001 Carlton had moved out of the home she shared with Beck. The two had been together for 12 years and had a child.
When she went back to the home they had shared to pick up some of her belongings, Beck soaked her with lighter fluid and set her on fire, refused to give her help then tried to cover up his crime in order to make it look like a barbecue-related accident.
The case was prosecuted by then-Deputy District Attorney Rick Martin, who in 2005 became a Lake County Superior Court judge.
At trial, Martin presented evidence including Carlton’s 911 phone call in which she told the dispatcher that Beck “sprayed lighter fluid all over me” and that he tried to murder her.
Carlton was left disfigured, unable to walk, speak or care for herself. She remained in a Lake County care facility until her death in March 2016.
Her parents, Phyllis Kline and Jeffrey Carlton, attended the Tuesday hearing. Kline said she also was accompanied by a cousin who acted as her support person.
Kline went armed with 150 signatures on paper petitions and approximately 51,272 signatures in an online petition against Beck’s release: https://www.thepetitionsite.com/328/208/588/refuse-parole-to-convicted-torturer-gregory-patrick-beck-cdc-t61119/.
“We were very anxious,” Kline told Lake County News.
She credited Mendocino County Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth Norman, who attended the hearing to argue against Beck’s release, and the parole commissioners for their work.
“They were so thorough, professional, and possessed an incredible insight of Beck's issues,” said Kline, who has called Beck “absolutely evil.”
Kline recognized the prison staff for their understanding and caring for her and her family throughout the seven hours they were at the prison.
Beck has been refused parole before due to the board concluding that he has failed to take responsibility for the attack and has not succeeded in the rehabilitation process.
Norman said the parole board ruled it will be another five years before Beck is eligible for another hearing.
"We wished it had been another 10 years but we are satisfied the board saw Beck still hasn't accepted the horrific crime he committed,” Norman said.
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Man convicted of torture denied parole for fifth time
- Elizabeth Larson
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