CONNECTICUT, USA — Surrounded by touching family photos, Audrey Carlson remembered her daughter, Elizabeth, “delightful, fun, contagious laugh, came alive on stage.”
Elizabeth’s sister, Leslie Carlson Schlachter, smiled fondly thinking of Elizabeth while sitting next to her mother, “Beautiful and poised, loved dance and performance, super studious,” said Leslie.
Leslie was just fifteen months younger than her and said they grew up like twins.
“She was a lot of fun,” said Audrey.
It’s been more than 20 years since 24-year-old Elizabeth was killed in their home by her ex-boyfriend. She was shot multiple times in front of Leslie.
“He broke into our house, he laid in wait upstairs in this house while my sister and I were home,” Leslie recalled. "When my sister and I went upstairs to look for something that he had stolen, he shot her to death seven times.”
All those years ago, the Carlsons accepted a plea deal, as did Eizabeth’s killer- a man named Jonathan Carney. He’d serve 42 years for murdering Elizabeth.
“When you accept that, you tuck that away and you say, I don’t need to deal with that for another 42 years, he cannot get out. We did not know that this was a thing,” said Leslie.
Several weeks ago, they found out Carney had applied for commutation through the Board of Pardons and Paroles.
“A lot of emotions resurface,” said Audrey, “I had to refocus myself and figure out how we were going to navigate through this.”
Carney was able to get a pre-screen review to determine if there was merit to grant him an actual hearing. For this review, families have the right to submit letters on the victim’s behalf. The Carlsons rallied the troops, and more than 1,000 letters were sent.
“Believe it or not there were people that wrote in that we don’t even know,” said Audrey.
On the day of the review, three members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles sat while the family watched it on the web. Leslie said it was over in a minute, the Board rejecting Carney's application. The Board cited the seriousness of the conviction, Carney continuing to serve his sentence being in the interest of justice, and it not being extraordinary circumstances that would favor commutation.
“I went from being really, really happy and grateful to being infuriated,” said Leslie.
Leslie was upset because when she read the Board’s policies, she learned Carney can re-apply for commutation in three years.
“It’s horribly unfair,” said Audrey, “it’s unjust, it’s outrageous that we have to relive the same thing again and again until he’s released.”
“This whole process brings you back to that initial day,” said Leslie.
“I had to push my sister’s body off of the door to get in the room to see just in time that he was reloading his gun, so for someone who in their commutation application said that their goal that day was to commit suicide in front of my sister to hurt her, he shot her seven times,” recalled Leslie. "He chased me down the street. He had over 20 bullets on him.”
The family wants changes made to the Board’s commutation policies. They’re asking the Board to not allow anyone who has taken a plea deal for murder or capital murder and is over the age of 25, to be eligible for commutation. They also want inmates to not be able to re-apply for five years instead of three.
“We don’t want families like us and other families to go through this so regularly,” said Leslie.
Leslie explained why they’ve put in a stipulation excluding anyone over the age of 25 who took a plea deal. Leslie is a Neurosurgery PA and said she understands the science behind brain function and development. Although Leslie said she supports prison reform, she said she wants it to be fair and appropriate.
"The brain may not be fully developed until 20 to 25 years old,” said Leslie. “Therefore, crimes committed under the age of 25 could be related to poor judgment secondary to underdevelopment.”
We talked with the Board of Pardons and Paroles to understand the process and policies.
The Board’s mission, as stated on its website, is, “to facilitate the successful reintegration of suitable offenders into the community and provide relief to those individuals who have demonstrated the necessary life changes to become productive members of society.”
In June of 2021, the Board updated its commutation policies and put in place more restrictive requirements for inmates applying. Before that, any inmate could be eligible if they’d served more than four years. Now inmates would have to have a sentence of greater than 10 years and would have to have served at least 10 of them to be eligible, among other new requirements.
But Elizabeth’s family believes these newer requirements are still not narrow enough. “The policy on commutations is way too broad,” said Audrey.
The Board provided FOX61 with a statement saying:
“In this particular case, Jonathan Carney received a denial letter from the Board which cited the Board’s reasons for denying his application and not granting him a commutation hearing. Also stated in this letter, he was notified he could only re-apply if there was new, compelling information, not included or considered by the board in his original application.”
--Richard Sparaco, CT Board of Pardons and Paroles Executive Dir.
The Board did provide FOX61 with that denial letter, which reads:
“Please note, re-applications will not be accepted. However, if new, compelling information not included and considered by the Board with this application becomes available, you may reapply. Please remember, this new information must meet the eligibility criteria set forth by the Board.”
The Board said “new information” involves a number of factors but would have to be extenuating. The Carlsons though say they don’t think he should be able to apply again, saying the reasons he was denied a hearing in the first place aren’t going to change.
Either way, if Carney tries to reapply in three years, claiming to have new information, the Board confirms it will trigger another notification to the Carlsons, as required by statute.
The Carlson family remembers their daughter and sister Elizabeth through a scholarship for high school seniors in the state of Connecticut, looking to pursue a career in the performing arts.
If you or anyone, you know, is interested in being a scholarship recipient or helping the Carson family remember Elizabeth, click here.
Connecticut's commutation policy is below:
Jonathan Carney's commutation decision is below:
Jenn Bernstein is an anchor at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jbernstein@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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