Spanberger's parole board freed 7 more in September: two killers, three sex offenders

In a single meeting on Sept. 10, the parole board appointed by Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger approved the release of seven people, among them two men convicted of murder and three convicted of sexual offenses, according to the board's September decisions report and approved minutes.

The board decided 85 parole cases in September and granted 7. Every grant passed 4-0, with Bishop Kevin White absent, the minutes show.

The jump is stark. A Washington Examiner analysis published Oct. 7 found that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's parole board approved 1.23% of parole requests in all of 2025, granting 32, while Spanberger's board, installed in mid-March, posted a 13.89% release rate in roughly half of 2026, with 38 grants, which the Examiner described as more than 10 times Youngkin's rate. A separate WJLA 7News analysis of every decision since Spanberger's board first met in May counted 48 grants in 205 discretionary and geriatric parole cases, about 23.4%, or "almost one in four," compared with fewer than two in 100 under Youngkin's board. Bolts magazine, analyzing monthly decisions, put Youngkin's board at about 2% from January 2022 through September 2023 and 1.6% for 2023. The analyses cover different periods and case counts, which is why the 2026 figures differ. The board's own reports show 14 grants in 44 parole decisions in August, about 32%, and 7 grants in 85 decisions in September, about 8.2%.

The seven people granted parole were Troy Demar, 53, Fairfax County, second-degree murder; Calvin Darnell Johnson, 61, Richmond, first-degree murder; Clarence Eugene Billups, 71, Norfolk, rape, including a 2023 conviction for rape of a child under 13; Waverly Otis Robinson, 63, Hopewell, forcible sodomy; David Syrus Butchee, 45, Southampton County, robbery with a firearm; John Michael Moran Jr., 56, Staunton, rape and robbery; and Michael McCoy Duncan, 62, Virginia Beach, burglary and larceny, according to the September report.

Consider the records. Billups' file lists two 1992 rape convictions, a 2023 parole violation and a 2023 conviction for raping a child under 13. Two board members called his remaining time a "technical violation" and said three years was enough. Johnson, serving life for a 1989 Richmond murder, has 2023 drug and theft convictions on his record. Robinson and Moran each have parole violations on their records.

In Demar's case, the victim's family begged the board to keep him in. "He killed my sister," one sister told the board, according to WJLA 7News. The board voted 4-0 to release him anyway.

Gov. Spanberger appointed all five members on March 4, and the Democratic-led General Assembly confirmed them in March. Chair Shannon Dion was previously named director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, and member Tyrone Nelson has run for the Henrico Board of Supervisors as a Democrat. By law, members serve at the governor's pleasure.

Former Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, told WJLA that Spanberger "knew this is exactly the result" when she replaced Youngkin's board. "They're under your control, Madam Governor," he said.

The board did deny 78 cases in September, most commonly citing a need for cognitive behavioral therapy and insight. And it explained each grant on the record, citing rehabilitation, programming and low risk scores. But the question is not whether the board can list reasons. It is whether those reasons outweigh what juries, judges and victims said.

Spanberger's office had not responded to WJLA's requests for comment on the board's decisions as of the station's Sept. 14 and Oct. 2 reports.

Why the board matters: Virginia abolished parole for most crimes in 1995, under a truth-in-sentencing law pushed by Republican Gov. George Allen's administration, according to Bolts. The people still eligible are mostly those convicted of serious crimes before then, older prisoners seeking geriatric release, and people covered by 2020 expansions for juvenile offenders and some 1995-2000 jury cases, which Democrats passed after taking full control of state government in 2019, Bolts reported. That leaves the decision in the hands of five people the governor appoints. Statewide, violent crime fell to 210.5 per 100,000 residents in 2025, down 7% from 2024, according to the Department of Criminal Justice Services.

Email the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors:
Jeffrey C. McKay, chairman@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Kathy L. Smith, sully@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Rachna Sizemore Heizer, braddock@fairfaxcounty.gov,
James N. Bierman Jr., dranesville@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Rodney L. Lusk, franconia@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Walter L. Alcorn, huntermill@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Andres F. Jimenez, mason@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Daniel G. Storck, mtvernon@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Dalia A. Palchik, providence@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Pat Herrity, springfield@fairfaxcounty.gov,

Fairfax is an independent city in Northern Virginia.

Email the Fairfax City Board/Council:
Catherine Read, Catherine.Read@fairfaxva.gov,
Anthony Amos, Anthony.Amos@fairfaxva.gov,
Billy Bates, Billy.Bates@fairfaxva.gov,
Stacy Hall, Stacy.Hall@fairfaxva.gov,
Stacey Hardy-Chandler, Stacey.Hardy-Chandler@fairfaxva.gov,
Rachel McQuillen, Rachel.McQuillen@fairfaxva.gov,
Thomas Peterson, Tom.Peterson@fairfaxva.gov,

Fairfax County is a county in Northern Virginia. Its county seat is Fairfax, an independent city.

Email the Richmond City Council:
Andrew Breton, andrew.breton@rva.gov,
Katherine Jordan, katherine.jordan@rva.gov,
Kenya Gibson, kenya.gibson@rva.gov,
Sarah Abubaker, sarah.abubaker@rva.gov,
Stephanie Lynch, stephanie.lynch@rva.gov,
Ellen Robertson, ellen.robertson@rva.gov,
Cynthia Newbille, cynthia.newbille@rva.gov,
Reva Trammell, reva.trammell@rva.gov,
Nicole Jones, nicole.jones@rva.gov,

Richmond is an independent city in the Richmond region.

Email the Virginia Beach Board/Council:
Robert Dyer, mayorsoffice@vbgov.com,
Michael Berlucchi, mberlucc@vbgov.com,
Stacy Cummings, stcummings@vbgov.com,
Barbara Henley, bhenley@vbgov.com,
David Hutcheson, dhutcheson@vbgov.com,
Cal Jackson-Green, cjacksongreen@vbgov.com,
Robert Remick, wremick@vbgov.com,
Amelia Ross-Hammond, arosshammond@vbgov.com,
Jennifer Rouse, jvrouse@vbgov.com,
Joashua Schulman, jschulman@vbgov.com,
Rosemary Wilson, rcwilson@vbgov.com,

Virginia Beach is an independent city in Hampton Roads.

Norfolk is an independent city in Hampton Roads.

Email the Norfolk Board/Council:
Kenneth Alexander, mayor@norfolk.gov,
Martin Thomas, martin.thomas@norfolk.gov,
Courtney Doyle, courtney.doyle@norfolk.gov,
Mamie Johnson, mamie.johnson@norfolk.gov,
John Paige, john.paige@norfolk.gov,
Thomas Smigiel, thomas.smigiel@norfolk.gov,
Jeremy McGee, jeremy.mcgee@norfolk.gov,
Carlos Clanton, carlos.clanton@norfolk.gov,