The killer who took the lives of eight children and two young mothers in 1984 in Brooklyn in what has been called the ‘Palm Sunday Massacre’ has been released from prison, despite multiple denials of parole.
Christopher Thomas, now 68, was convicted of the mass shooting and sentenced in 1985 to 25-50 years, but was released on January 5 and is now believed to be living in Queens, New York.
‘He doesn’t deserve to be on the street. He killed poor, innocent children,’ retired NYPD Lt. Herbert Hohmann, who testified against Thomas at trial after leading the investigation told The New York Post on Friday.
The parole board agreed, denying him a total of five times over nine years, before his release no longer required board approval, due to meeting the time-served and other requirements, including ‘good behavior.’
Christopher Thomas, the killer who took the lives of eight children and two young mothers in 1984 in Brooklyn in what has been called the ‘Palm Sunday Massacre’ was released from prison
Thomas was found guilty of manslaughter for shooting up the home of convicted cocaine dealer Enrique Bermudez on a rainy Palm Sunday, with his pregnant girlfriend, Victoria Lopez, 24, another woman, and eigth children ranging in age from three to 14 inside.
Police who responded after the slaughter described a chilling scene.
‘One child was eating chocolate pudding, sitting on the couch in a suspended state, with the spoon still in her hand, dead,’ retired NYPD Detective Bo Dietl told The Post in 2009, before the killer’s first parole hearing.
‘There were victims sitting around the living room with fear on their faces after being systematically shot.’
The killer executed the victims at close range, with gun shots to the head, leaving only Christina Rivera, then 13 months old, alive.
Thomas was found guilty of manslaughter for shooting up the home of convicted cocaine dealer Enrique Bermudez on a rainy Palm Sunday, with his pregnant girlfriend, Victoria Lopez, 24, another woman, and eigth children ranging in age from three to 14 inside; This image shows a courtroom sketch of Thomas at the time of his trial between 1984 and 1985
The killer executed the victims at close range, with gun shots to the head, leaving only Christina Rivera, then 13 months old, alive
Thomas was not convicted of the greater offense of murder because it was found that his heavy cocaine use contributed to his action.
Bermudez wasn’t home at the time, and later told police that Thomas thought he was having an affair with his estranged wife.
The killings occurred on Liberty Avenue in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said on Friday that the ‘heinous crime’ perpetrated by Thomas warranted the maximum penalty of 50 years.
‘The parole board did not let him out,’ a state Department of Corrections spokesperson said.
‘He doesn’t need board approval because he served two-thirds [of his sentence].’
He was released from Shawangunk Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison for male inmates located in Wallkill, New York.
The killings occurred on Liberty Avenue in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn