Woodland, CA – September 4, 2018- Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig announced that on Thursday, August 30, 2018, the California Board of Parole Hearings denied 80-year-old convicted murderer, William Keller, parole for a period of three years. In 1984, Keller killed Joseph Hosner, firing a shotgun at Hosner’s head at close range. A Yolo County jury convicted Keller of murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of that murder. Keller was sentenced to 17-years-to-life in prison. The Board of Parole Hearings denied Keller’s request for parole on six previous occasions.
During the hearing, which took place at California Medical Facility, in Vacaville California, the two-commissioner panel considered a letter from a family member of the victim as well as arguments from the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office urging the commissioners to deny parole. The commissioners found that Keller was not suitable for parole because he presented “an unreasonable risk and threat to public safety.” Further, the commissioners stated that Keller had failed to take advantage of the many programs offered to him over the past several decades. The commissioners also noted that in addition to continuing to deny that he killed Hosner, they were unimpressed with the fact that Keller had refused to do any positive programming in prison to prepare him for life outside.
District Attorney Jeff Reisig stated, “This is another example of the important work that our parole lifer unit is doing on behalf of our crime victims and the people of this County. Keller has still been unable or unwilling to develop any understanding as to the circumstances that brought him to where he is in life. Without a demonstrated willingness and commitment to transformation, a murderer remains a danger to our citizens and release will be opposed.”
Keller will be eligible for another parole hearing in 2021.
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