NEW YORK — A former police officer who was a key witness at corruption hearings in the 1970s has been granted parole after 32 years in prison for murder.
William R. Phillips, a star witness at the Knapp Commission hearings on police corruption, had been denied parole at least four times. He was sentenced to 25 years to life after 1974 convictions on two counts of murder and one of attempted murder.
Phillips, who is 77 and has had multiple surgeries for cancer, was told Friday that his parole had been approved by a 2-1 vote, said state Division of Parole spokesman Mark Johnson.
The dissenting member said Phillips’ crimes “fly in the face of dedicated police officers who risk their lives on a daily basis to protect society,” according to the parole board.
Phillips was a police officer from 1957 to 1974, when he was arrested on suspicion of accepting protection money from a prostitution operation. Because he appeared on television while giving Knapp Commission testimony, he was identified as the person wanted for killing a pimp and a prostitute and trying to kill a third person.
Phillips is to be released Nov. 9 from the Fishkill Correctional Facility.
The Associated Press