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A Utah father and son who tried to kill three employees at a Salt Lake County Arby's two decades ago said at separate parole hearings this month that their years behind bars have changed them.
An emotional Richard L. Lawrimore, now 56, told a Utah Board of Pardons and Paroles hearing officer on Thursday that there are no excuses for what he did and that he hated who he used to be. He also agreed with two of his victims who spoke at the hearing that he was "monster" at the time he committed the grisly attacks.
"I've tried to do everything in my power since I've been here to try to change who I was, to try to be somebody different," Lawrimore said, who has earned a high-school diploma and a college degree in prison, as well as completed a program designed to help inmates live productive lives.
He apologized to his victims, saying, "I am truly and deeply sorry for all the pain I caused them."
His son, Richard D. Lawrimore, now 38, said at his own hearing that prison programs have taught him to make better choices and stay drug-free. He acknowledged that he robbed the Arby's to feed his habit.
"I can't sit here and make excuses. I was a messed up individual," the younger Lawrimore said.
A decision in each case on whether to grant parole will be issued later. Those decisions are made by majority vote of the five-member board. Thursday's proceeding was the father's first parole hearing; his son had a previous hearing in 2011.
The Lawrimores approached the three workers as they were leaving the Arby's at 2284 E. 3900 South on Jan. 9, 1996, and forced them back inside at gunpoint. The father and son, who had injected methamphetamine for two days, seemed intent on stealing money and leaving no witnesses, according to court records.
Employee Joseph Hare, 24, was shot five times and stabbed six times before he managed to jump out a window and call police.
Meanwhile, the Lawrimores forced Hare's co-workers, 20-year-old Charee Hoppal and 23-year-old Chantel Mann, to disrobe and lie on the floor while they sawed at their throats with butcher knives.
The attack stopped when the two women played dead and the Lawrimores left with cash stolen from Hare and the restaurant, police said. Hoppal and Mann recognized the younger Lawrimore as a former Arby's employee who had been fired two weeks earlier, and the father and son were arrested about three hours after the robbery. Police said the Lawrimores had dropped the stolen money near the restaurant while fleeing.
Richard L. Lawrimore pleaded guilty in 3rd District Court to three counts of attempted aggravated murder, a first-degree felony. He was sentenced to three terms of five years to life in prison, to be served one after the other. His son pleaded guilty to one count of attempted aggravated murder and is serving a five-year-to-life sentence.
At Thursday's hearing, the women — now Charee Keepers and Chantel Ashton — asked that the older Lawrimore be denied parole.
"I feel you are a hateful man who cannot possibly offer any good to society," Ashton said. "I would ask the parole board to never consider letting you out on the streets ever."
Keepers agreed, saying, "He should not be released back into society. Monsters like this should remain behind bars."
But noting the influence fathers have on their sons, Keepers said the younger Lawrimore needs to have a chance "to prove that he is not a monster like his father."
"I feel like it is time he goes out into the real world and has the day-to-day struggles that I have to endure," she said. "He should have to struggle to pay for food, pay for a home, keep a job."
Ashton told Lawrimore she felt sorry for him because he had such a poor example for a father but said he had made the choice to participate in the robbery and attempted murders. However, she said she also wanted him to have the opportunity to straighten out his life.
"It would be nice to see you working hard to be a productive member of society, if given the chance," Ashton said.
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