Killer gets parole on fifth try, 38 years after brutal murder of classmate in Canton, Massachusetts

By Mike Toole, Penny Kmitt

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    CANTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A man who was sentenced to life in prison after beating a classmate to death in Canton, Massachusetts when they were both 14 years old, has been granted parole.

Rod Matthews was convicted of second-degree murder on March 10, 1988 in the death of Shaun Ouillette. Matthews was up for parole four times over the years but was denied every time. That changed after his latest hearing on June 4, 2024. Five months later, he was granted parole on November 6. If he completes a 9-month program in lower security he will be set free.

Shaun Ouillette murder

Back in October 1986, Matthews told two classmates he “wanted to know what it was like to kill someone,” according to prosecutors. They said he chose Ouillette because he “would be easy to get to and he probably would be the least missed.” Matthews lured Ouillette to the woods to build a fort and then beat him to death with a baseball bat.

Several weeks later, one of Ouillette’s friends sent an anonymous letter to police revealing what Matthews did and where to find the body, which was found on December 11, 1986. Matthews was arrested two days later and eventually charged as an adult. He was the state’s first juvenile to be tried for murder in adult court.

Ouillette’s family, Canton’s Police Chief and the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office all opposed parole. Ouillette’s mother, Jeanne Quinn, is furious.

“How do you know that he is ready for society?” Quinn said.

She remembers her son Shaun as a kindhearted, average 14-year-old kid and big brother who loved playing sports and going fishing.

“He was always out playing, helping the kids who were in the wheelchair,” Quinn said. “He picked the kid up and let him throw the basketball in.”

Quinn said Shaun would have been a police officer. “I bury Shaun every day,” she said. “Every morning when I get up.”

James Alan Fox is a criminologist who has been following this case for years and attended the trial with Shaun’s mother. He now believes Matthews deserves to be released.

“The portion of the brain that governs our ability to think through actions does not fully develop until later,” Fox said. “I’m secure in the fact that he will not recommit a crime.”

Quinn does not think Matthews has changed. “There is such a thing as evil,” Quinn said.

Rod Matthews parole

In releasing their decision Wednesday, the parole board said Matthews has completed and benefitted from “intensive rehabilitative programming to address his needs.”

“Since his last hearing Mr. Matthews has completed several additional programs that increased his insight, empathy, and appreciation for the harm he has caused the victims and the community,” the panel stated.

“I want the 9-to-5 job. I want to be with my family. I want to take care of my mother,” Matthews said at his hearing in June. “I’m not that 14-year-old kid anymore. I’m a 51-year-old mature, responsible adult.”

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