COLUMBUS - Ohio's Parole Board denied a release from prison Thursday for a Cortland man convicted of killing his father with three blasts from a shotgun before stealing his car and fleeing to Lincoln City, Ore., in 1980.
Larry Daniel Lambert, 61, currently in Chillicothe Correctional Institution, has served 32 years of a life sentence handed down by former Common Pleas Judge David McLain. The board deliberated about 30 minutes before deciding Lambert should remain in prison for at least five more years. He will get another parole hearing in 2017.
Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins personally argued against parole for about 40 minutes, stressing Lambert's extensive criminal record including several brushes with the law as a juvenile. Watkins has repeatedly insisted that Lambert serve at least 50 years.
''Lambert family members have said in the past that they are afraid of him being released from prison,'' Watkins said.
An attorney for Lambert from the Ohio Public Defender's Office argued in favor of parole at Thursday's hearing, claiming that the defendant has served enough time and had already been given a release date. But Lambert's attorney was not able to cite any precise plans for his client should he be released from prison.
Watkins successfully pushed for what's called a full board hearing so all board members can hear evidence and decide the issue of parole as a group.
In August 1980, a jury found Lambert guilty of aggravated murder, theft and forgery after he was arrested on the West Coast and extradited here to answer for the charges in connection with the March 1980 murder of his father, Bernard Lambert, 55, who was found under the basement steps of his home at 135 Gates St., Cortland.
Authorities in Oregon cornered Lambert in a lounge at the Surftides Beach Resort with money, and his father's travelers checks and credit cards.
''Lambert was on parole when he murdered his own father in cold blood for money to cavort with two women he just met in a local bar. After murdering his father, he celebrated his father's death by having sex with one of the women. He then stole his father's car and more money and went on vacation to a resort town on the Pacific coast,'' Watkins said.
''Larry Lambert gives us understanding to the phrase cold blooded-killer. He's colder than cold ... there may be global warming and the Arctic may be melting but one thing is for sure, the ice will remain in Lambert's veins,'' Watkins told the parole board in an earlier letter opposing any parole.