Liz Tolbert Story

8/6/2014 Villain Elizabeth Liz Tolbert seeks clemency; makes startling revelation in her petition | Disclosure News Online
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Villain Elizabeth Liz Tolbert seeks clemency; makes
startling revelation in her petition
Posted by Jack Howser on Monday, March 11th, 2013 @ 8:03 pm.

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Perhaps Hardin Countys most infamous villain Elizabeth (Liz) Tolbert, for at least the eighth time since her original conviction in 1996 for
the shooting-death of Wilson D. Junior Tolbert, is seeking an early release from prison, this time by asking Governor Pat Quinn to
commute her sentence to time already served.
She is currently serving a 60-year sentence, but based on then-existing Illinois law she will effectively serve just six months shy of 30
years and is currently scheduled to be released in December 2025. For approximately the last nine years, Tolbert has been incarcerated
at the medium-security Lincoln Correctional Center, just south of Springfield.
In an emotionally-based 102-page clemency petition filed with the Illinois Prisoner Review Board on July 2, obtained by a Freedom of
Information Act request, the convicted murderer is claiming she deserves clemency for, among other reasons, she should be released
immediately because she is no longer a threat to society, and that life expectancy for an inmate is age 63. As of now I would be 64
upon my release, Tolbert wrote in her petition.
The now 52-year-old woman also claimed that her body deteriorates from lack of proper food and nutrients. Tolbert said we dont
get fresh fruit and fresh vegetables like we would out there or real meat. In support of her claim that keeping her incarcerated is a
financial burden on the State, Tolbert added It will continue to cost the (State) money to keep me here. A nurse told me that one of the
shots I was on before my surgery (a hysterectomy) cost $3000. In all, she listed five reasons Governor Quinn should allow her back
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among the law-abiding citizens of Illinois.
Tolbert, then 34 at the time of Juniors murder, was convicted, along with her brother, James Sanford, in the heinous and cold-blooded
execution-style shooting of Junior at the entrance to his farm in Hardin County. A third-party, Chris Olvedia-Reed, pleaded guilty to
tampering with evidence and served several years in prison.
James Sanford accuses member of a prominent Hardin County family as Juniors killer
Central to Tolberts Jan. 1998 conviction was the testimony of several witnesses, including Olvedia-Reed; who testified that Tolbert and
Sanford had a hushed conversation at the side of the road moments after Tolbert told Sanford that Junior had just named him as the
person who shot him earlier that day. At least according to Olvedia-Reed, Sanford and Tolbert drove back to the couples farm where
Junior lay paralyzed. It is at this point where the parties tell completely opposite versions of events that took place the afternoon of May
24, 1995.
According to Tolbert, she followed Sanford and Olvedia-Reed back to the farm in her Blazer with her two sons in the back seat.
Olvedia-Reed claims she was the one following Tolbert and Sanford. While Sanford admitted at Tolberts trial to firing the fatal shot,
after claiming numerous times he didnt Sanford has since changed his story to the author during a visit in early 2010 at the Menard
Correctional Center.
When asked if he actually fired the point-blank shot into Juniors head, he looked down and in almost a hushed-tone said I shot him the
first time, I admit that, but I didnt kill him. After asking several times, the author said, James its important to finally get to the truth.
You are doing life and nothing will change that. Do you know who killed Junior? Was it your sister? Looking down at the table and
hesitating for a few moments he softly said, No sis didnt kill him Chrissy did. We left; Chrissy took me to the place where she hid the
gun under the rock, we went back to her house, took a shower and burned our clothes. When Sanford looked up one could see at
least some remorse in his somber-looking eyes.
Indeed, it is undisputed that Olvedia-Reed is the only one of the three potential killers that led authorities to the .25-caliber pistol used to
kill Junior, which was hidden in a glove under a rock in a rural pond. Sanford led investigators to the site he buried the .22 caliber pistol
he used to shoot Junior in the back earlier that day which left him paralyzed according to the autopsy and medical testimony during
Tolberts trial.
After 18 years, Tolbert shows no remorse over Juniors death
Since her arrest in July, 1995 Tolbert has steadfastly maintained her innocence, saying she didnt kill Junior and never conspired or
planned his death with anyone. In fact, Tolbert has gone a step further: During the over 60 meetings she had with the author at Lincoln,
Tolbert never expressed any remorse over Juniors death. She has said numerous times that she was absolutely sure she was going to
prevail in her post-conviction claims and subsequent appeals, and that she is sorry she is in prison and shouldnt be there.
I never believed I would have to be doing this clemency, I believed I would win from the courts; that dream is long gone, Tolbert says
in her petition.
However, she never expressed any remorse for her involvement in Juniors death. Just the opposite, she maintains she was not involved
at all. Several former inmates who were friends with Tolbert all say they never saw her show any remorse that Junior was dead or the
way he was killed. In fact, the former drug-dealer from California said in a Letter to the Editor to the Independent, days after Juniors
murder, that she had done nothing to feel guilty about.
In a jail-house letter written to Sanford shortly after their arrest, she urges Sanford to take responsibility for Juniors death and promised
him she would get him a lawyer and show what a dick Junior was.
The lack of remorse and taking responsibility for her actions on May 24, 1995 are clearly evident by Tolberts statements she made
both at her sentencing and in her clemency petition. During her sentencing, Tolbert told the court she was guilty of only negligence in
telling her brother that Junior had just told her he shot him.
The Prisoner Review Board gets new info
Tolbert told the Prisoner Review Board in her petition, I do know my action of stopping and asking James if he killed my husband,
makes me responsible for his actions. The stupidest thing Ive ever done! WAIT!!Tolbert has maintained for the past 18 years that
when she left Junior after finding him, he was shot, but alive - laying by the side of his truck. She has never wavered from her claim she
told James, that Junior said James shot me.
Now, in a shocking new revelation, Tolbert tells the Board that she stopped and asked James if he killed Junior! She doesnt say she
asked James if he shot, wounded or even injured him; she asks if he killed him. Why would she ask her brother if he killed Junior,
when Junior was supposed to be alive when she left him? She also writes in her petition, I am ashamed that my actions took my
husbands life, but not ashamed to go out and tell anyone and everyone why I was locked up
This shocking admission that she asked her brother if he killed Junior is quite significant in light of her fathers testimony during
Sanfords trial. Ray Sanford told jurors that while the two were driving to Paducah, Ky., weeks before Juniors murder that Tolbert
said, She told me that if Junior cut the money out from under her she would kill him. When called to testify during Tolberts trial, he
had what can only be labeled as a convenient memory lapse, saying he did not remember his previous testimony.
In her petition, Tolbert gave a lengthy and somewhat rambling personal life history where she admits that she did not care about how
my actions effected and hurt other people. She adds that she was cursed to be physically developed at such an early age, and says
that in 1995 I know I was full of myself back then. The convicted murderer also made similar ridiculous claims on several
syndicated television shows such as Sally Jessy Raphael and to the author, that every woman in Hardin County was jealous of my
good looks and the way I dressed.
Tolberts gives the Board five reasons for granting her clemency
Tolbert told the Board that upon her release, she will live with a friend in the Chicago area that she met in prison. The woman, Dawn
DeGuide, who served several years for killing a person while driving drunk, has promised her a job helping with daily chores.
For her first reason, Tolbert told the Board, she will never commit another crime or be put in a position to lie or cover for someone
else. She also claims that she will not abuse drugs, even over-the-counter drugs. She adds I will never come back to prison because
I am not the same person that got locked up in 1995.
She listed for her second reason that she wont be a threat or burden to society, it will save the state a lot of money to release this
elderly inmate. She also said her health is not improving, but declining. But yet, maintains she is currently quite healthy. She adds that by
her release, she will be able to help people not return to prison or ever come here.
Claiming that the recidivism rate among long-timers is 2 percent, Tolbert said her third reason she claims she is deserving of clemency
are her accomplishments in prison. There is no excuse why I came to prison, only that I made a horrible call in my life, and realize that
my actions led to the reactions that took my husbands life, and ruined everyone elses around me including my brothers, she told the
board.
She then tells the Board that because of her prison-related church and volunteer activities, and also because her convicted-felon friend is
willing to give her a job, she should be released.
Included in her fourth reason for seeking clemency, the devious woman claimed she was in effect given a life sentence because of her
claim that the life expectancy of a female inmate is 63 years. She also tells the Board that the penalty she received is too severe because
she will not be able to be a useful citizen and get a job if she were to serve her entire sentence. She continues by asking the Board to
choose places where she can talk to the younger generation that would help open the door for me to get invited into schools and other
places.
Tolbert for her fifth reason wrote, I ask not only to be released for myself but for those I can be helping. She promises the Board she
will not be a burden to society or to anyone else. She repeats her earlier grandiose promises to help practically everyone in the State not
to make the same mistakes she did, from the young school-age children to those in nursing homes. She ends by telling the Board If
someone would only take a chance on me. From reviewing her petition, it appears the villain has not been able to garner much, if any
credible support for her release in the past 18 years. Without exception, every letter she attaches to her petition are from convicted
felons some convicted of murder. She also includes a signed petition that doesnt include phone numbers. Suspiciously, all the signers
are from Ohio a state Tolbert has never been to.
Tolbert told the Board that her long-time friend Dawn DeGuide and her husband John would provide testimony at her hearing last
October. When contacted and asked if he and his wife actually appeared at the hearing, DeGuide said I dont recall. Tolbert told the
author several times that upon her release, Dawn promised her $100,000. During an interview when asked about this claim her husband
John said thats news to me. I dont know anything about that and neither does Dawn.
No release is expected in the near future for convicted murderer
This is Tolberts first bid at seeking clemency. She had a hearing before the Board in October, which she was not permitted to attend.
They will make a confidential recommendation to the Governor to approve or deny her request. If denied, Tolbert is not allowed to file
another petition for one year.
According to Board representative Chuck Eguez, Governor Quinn is reviewing requests filed in 2008. The earliest a decision should be
expected on her petition is mid-2017, according to Eguez. Therefore, a favorable decision on Tolberts petition, although unlikely, wont
be coming for at least four years.
So for now, and most likely until 2025, the citizens of Hardin County and elsewhere can rest easy knowing that the elderly inmate will
continue to eat a diet devoid of meat, fresh fruits and vegetables and, continue to deteriorate at Lincoln.
Stephen Pope is a Pittsburgh-based freelance journalist who has done extensive studies into Liz Tolberts claims of innocence.

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Short URL: http://www.disclosurenewsonline.com/?p=20296

Posted by Jack Howser on Mar 11 2013. Filed under 11.01 - March/April 2013, Columns, e-edition, Egypt, Guest Columnist,
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