This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
After spending half his life behind bars, a 31-year-old Utah inmate who at age 15 stabbed a friend to death during a sleepover will be paroled this spring.
The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole issued a decision Thursday, setting a May 24 release date for Brookes Colby Shumway.
At a parole hearing Tuesday, Shumway said he was "deeply sorry" for killing 14-year-old Christopher Ray, who he claimed had made sexual advances toward him the night of the January 2000 slaying.
"There's not a day that goes by that I don't wish I could go back and change [my actions]," Shumway said. "I wish people would be able to forgive me, but I know they won't. I know it's one of the worst things that a person could ever do. I just wish I could take it back."
But Debbie Gette, the victim's mother, said Shumway has never shown any remorse and has told many different stories about what happened the night he killed her son.
"He has not repented," Gette said at Tuesday's hearing. "You blame Chris. Chris came on to you? Come on, Brookes. Be truthful."
Gette also said, "I honestly believe that if he gets out and somebody makes him angry again, it's just all going to be the same thing, it's going to happen all over again."
Ray was killed Jan. 23, 2000, at his Sandy house. An autopsy showed he was stabbed 39 times with a butcher knife and a steak knife. Shumway told police several versions of what occurred.
One account was that Ray initially attacked him with the butcher knife, while in another, Ray cut his own throat by falling on the knife and had somehow stabbed himself in the back. But in a jail journal, Shumway claimed Ray's mother and 18-year-old sister had a role in the killing.
At a 2007 parole hearing, Shumway gave another account, saying Ray had made sexual advances and that he later stabbed his sleeping friend. At that time, the board decided that Shumway should spend at least 10 more years in prison.
At Tuesday's hearing, Shumway said he had made up stories because he was scared and knew he was in trouble, "and I didn't want people to think I was a horrible monster."
Shumway said he and Ray had played video games for hours at the victim's Sandy house until about 1 a.m. Jan. 23, 2000. Then, as the two were going into the living room to go to sleep, Ray tried to kiss him, according to Shumway.
The two had an argument, and he told Ray that he "really didn't believe in that kind of thing," Shumway said. He said he felt betrayed by his friend, who went to sleep, and was still "stewing" about what had happened.
"I could just feel all the anger that I had come loose that night, like I couldn't hold it in anymore," said Shumway, who also said he had been a victim of bullying for years and was still upset up by a recent incident at school.
Under questioning by parole board Chairwoman Angela Miklos, Shumway said he and Ray had "made out" on four prior occasions, but that as he got older, he was feeling attracted to girls and was confused about his feelings.
Shumway was tried as an adult in fall 2000 and found guilty by a 3rd District Court jury of first-degree-felony murder and second-degree-felony evidence tampering for allegedly disposing of the steak knife, which was never found. He was given a five-years-to-life prison sentence.
But in 2003, the Utah Supreme Court ordered a new murder trial, saying jurors were given the wrong instruction about considering the lesser crime of manslaughter. The high court also said there was insufficient evidence of tampering and threw out that charge.
A year later, Shumway resolved the case by pleading guilty to first-degree-felony aggravated burglary and second-degree-felony manslaughter. He was sentenced to consecutive prison terms of five years to life and one to 15 years.
Miklos noted Tuesday that one of two psychological evaluations that were prepared for the hearing says Shumway has "avoidant personality disorder," which makes it difficult for him to express his feelings. Shumway said prison classes have taught him ways to handle his anger.
According to Miklos, both evaluations deemed that Shumway would pose a low risk of reoffending if released.
Twitter: @PamelaManson