Teen killer in 1986 Middleboro murder granted parole

By Cody Shepard The Enterprise

Posted Sep 24, 2020

A now-51-year-old man who killed an elderly Middleboro man when he was just 17 years old has been granted parole to a long-term residential program with “special conditions.”

Jeffrey Roberio asked the Massachusetts Parole Board in June to release him from prison — and his life sentence — early to enter into a long-term residential rehabilitation program. It was the second time Roberio had sought early release, but he was denied parole in 2015.

The parole board on Tuesday granted Roberio’s release with conditions that he enter a long-term residential program, abide by a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, wear a GPS-monitoring bracelet, abstain from and comply with drug and alcohol testing, attend mental health counseling and Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous and not have any contact with the victim’s family.

“Since his last hearing, he has immersed himself in meaningful treatment and rehabilitation,” Pamela Murphy, the parole board’s general counsel, wrote in the decision.

Despite initially being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the July 29, 1986, murder of Lewis Jennings, Roberio became eligible for parole because of a retroactive December 2013 Supreme Judicial Court ruling. The state’s highest court decided that life without parole was a cruel and unusual punishment for minors because scientific evidence shows that juvenile brains are not yet fully developed.

Roberio was resentenced to life with parole eligibility in 2013 and instantly became eligible for parole because he had previously served 15 years.

During the June parole hearing, which lasted about 2 hours and 40 minutes, Roberio said he was “truly sorry for the pain” he caused Jennings’ family.

“I cannot undo the damage I have done,” Roberio said. “I can only say I am sorry and work every day to become a better person and pray that, when the day comes, I will be judged by the content of my character and not by my horrible actions.”

Roberio and a co-defendant, Michael Eagles, beat and strangled Jennings inside his Pleasant Street trailer in Middleboro in an attempt to rob him. 

Jennings’ spine, several ribs and bones in his neck were fractured. He suffered numerous injuries to his face and head and had numerous lacerations on his hand indicative of defensive wounds. He was alive when the injuries occurred.  

Jennings’ daughter, Donna Jennings Villaire, said at the hearing that her family has been given a life sentence with no parole because it has to relive “haunting memories” of her father’s death.

“My dad did not deserve to die like this. No one or nothing does,” Villaire said. “There are just not enough classes, programs or classes to rehabilitate this evil. My family and I ask that the Parole Board strongly take into consideration this horrific crime and deny the parole of Jeffrey Roberio. He will never have our forgiveness.”

Villaire couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz, who spoke at the hearing against Roberio’s release, said he respectfully disagrees with the board’s decision.

“This man admitted to being the mastermind and primary actor in robbing and then brutally beating and strangling Mr. Jennings to death. To me, the heinous nature of this murder alone was enough to give the Board a reason to deny his request for parole,” Cruz wrote in a statement. “We believe that Jeffrey Roberio has never demonstrated the level of rehabilitation that was compatible with someone who could re-join society and live according to our laws. The family of this victim have endured nearly 35 years of suffering with loss of their loved one. Over those years, Jeffrey Roberio barely offered any expression of remorse or any apology. I will not apologize for continuing to advocate on behalf of crime victims and their devastated families.”

The parole board wrote that Roberio’s release was “not incompatible with the welfare of society.”

“In forming this opinion, the Board has taken into consideration Mr. Roberio’s institutional behavior, as well as his participation in available work, educational, and treatment programs during the period of his incarceration,” the decision states. “The Board has also considered a risk and needs assessment, and whether risk reduction programs could effectively minimize Mr. Roberio’s risk of recidivism. After applying this appropriately high standard to the circumstances of Mr. Roberio’s case, the Board is of the opinion that Jeffrey Roberio merits parole at this time.”

One parole board member “voted to deny parole with a review in two years,” according to the decision. The votes are confidential, according to a spokesperson for the state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

Roberio has been in prison at the Pondville Correctional Center in Norfolk, a minimum-security prison where he has been for about a year and a half. He previously spent more than two decades at the Old Colony Correctional Center in Bridgewater after his conviction. It wasn’t immediately clear when he would be released.