A former Modesto man convicted of murdering a 71-year-old woman in Pine Mountain Lake was found suitable for parole last month, while a child sex offender from Sonora was denied an early release.
Tuolumne County District attorney Cassandra Jenecke announced the recent decisions by the California Board of Parole Hearings in the cases of Steve Karpan, 61, and Justin Hatler, 47, who are currently serving prison sentences for the crimes they committed in the county.
Karpan pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 1995 for killing Dorothy Ostrom, a former Modesto resident whose badly beaten body was found stuffed in a freezer at her vacation home in Pine Mountain Lake.
The parole hearing on July 27 was Karpan’s seventh since starting his sentence of 15 years to life in prison, after having been denied the previous six times he was eligible in 2005, 2010, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Jenecke stated that she argued against Karpan’s release based on his “lack of sufficient insight into why he murdered Ostrom and weak parole plans.”
However, the parole board disagreed and found him suitable based on Karpan’s participation in self-help and sobriety programs, lack of recent violent rules violations while in prison, and a trained psychologist’s assessment that rated him at a low risk for reoffending.
“While I disagree with the Panel’s findings, I appreciate their time and careful attention to this hearing,” Jenecke stated in a news release.
The release stated that Karpan claimed he did not remember killing Ostrom at the time of the offense until 2015, when he finally admitted to the murder and remembering what he had done.
A missing person’s report and anonymous tip led the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office to Ostrom’s utility room in Pine Mountain Lake in 1994, where she was beaten to death with a toilet tank and left head first in a freezer.
Karpan was seen driving Ostrom’s car and attempted to use her credit cards after pawning her video camera, the release stated. His fingerprints were also found on the toilet tank and the door to Ostorm’s utility room.
Jenecke attended the July 27 hearing with Ostrom’s daughter, Kelly Molohan, who has attended all of Karpan’s parole hearings to speak against the release of her mother’s killer.
“She attended and spoke or provided comment at all of his hearings even when doing so was incredibly traumatic and forced her to relive her mother’s murder,” Jenecke stated. “At each hearing, she demonstrated the strength of her love for her mother and her determination that Karpan never again be allowed to hurt another person.”
The parole board’s decision will be under review for 120 days, after which it will be finalized unless Gov. Gavin Newsom refers the decision for en-banc review by the Board of Parole Hearings.
Karpan is currently being held at Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
A separate parole hearing on July 7 for Hatler, a former Sonora resident who pleaded guilty in 2015 to felony aggravated sexual assault of a child and misdemeanor sexual battery, resulted in the board finding him unsuitable for early release.
Both of Hatler’s victims appeared at the hearing with Jenecke, the release stated.
“I am also grateful to the survivors who bravely participated in this process,” Jenecke stated. “Their strength was unmatched and their voices in opposition of release were clear. However, our system requires our crime survivors to go through this incredibly difficult, scary, and often re-victimizing experience to benefit their abuser earlier and more frequently in the process.”
Hatler, who was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, was denied parole for another three years due to the board noting a lack of insight into what motivated his crimes, as well as a psychologist’s assessment that rated him at a moderate risk of committing another violent offense if released.
Jenecke stated that Hatler had served just over eight years of his sentence and should have not been eligible for parole until serving at least 12 years and nine months, but recent changes in and regulations have allowed CDCR to increase the rate at which prisoners can be awarded credits toward early release for good conduct.
The changes were promulgated by the CDCR during the COVID-19 pandemic and voters’ approval of Proposition 57 in 2016, Jenecke stated.
“These programs were created to incentivize participation in rehabilitative programming to reduce recidivism,” Jenecke stated of the credits for conduct. “Unfortunately, the data that would guide the determination as to whether these programs are working has been slow to be received, incomplete, and outdated.”
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