Killer makes tearful plea for release
Forgive and forget.
Do the words have a place in the justice system?
For one woman – a convicted killer – the answer is yes.
For the man who helped to solve the crime, the answer is a resounding no.
Jennifer Reali, who was dubbed the “Fatal Attraction Killer” spent 22 years in prison for killing a mother of three. Her sentence commuted by Governor Bill Ritter, Reali now lives in a Lakewood halfway house, where she is eligible for parole.
A recent revelation, however, might mean Reali – despite tearful pleas for her release – is facing her own death sentence.
The crime shocked the community in the early ‘90s: Diana Hood, a wife and mother, shot dead as she left a lupus support group meeting. The suspect? Jennifer Reali, who was having an affair with Brian Hood, Diana’s husband.
“This was premeditated, planned and carried out. That is the definition of first degree murder,” says retired Colorado Springs Police Lieutenant Joe Kenda, who helped solve the crime.
Lt. Kenda is nothing less than vocal about the possibility of Reali’s sentence being truncated.
“Along comes a group of people, talking about how we should forgive, and how we should forget. I’m not into forgiveness. And I’m not into forgetting, either,” says Lt. Kenda.
Just weeks ago, Reali’s most recent chance at freedom came.
“In 1990, I got involved with someone who was not my husband. It was an unhealthy relationship, so of course it would be,” Reali tells the judge presiding over her parole hearing.
“Do you think your sentence was appropriate?” asks the judge.
“Yes,” Reali responds.
“If a life sentence was appropriate, then why should we let you out early?”
“That’s a really good question,” Reali sheepishly answers.
Later, the bombshell –
“I’ve been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which nobody was expecting.”
Reali begins to cry.
The disease is considered largely incurable by health experts.
For Lt. Kenda, parole is a privilege the real victim – Diana Hood – will not, and cannot ever know.
“Who could I speak to, to arrange for Diana Lynn Hood an early release from her grave?” asks Lt. Kenda.
The judge denies Reali’s plea for parole, but not entirely: she again gets the chance in October, 2015.
Brian Hood was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy, and will be eligible for parole in February, 2016.
Homicide Hunter airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery.
