Answers sought on treatment of sex offender charged with killing editor

ST. LOUIS -- Prison officials will be asked to explain why they didn't offer sex offender treatment to a man who admitted he needed help years before he was charged with raping and killing a retired St. Louis Post-Dispatch editor.

"This is an awful case, absolutely awful," said Sen. Harry Kennedy, D-St. Louis, a member of the Joint Committee on Corrections.

The committee's chairman, Rep. Mark Bruns, R-Jefferson City, called the circumstances "totally unacceptable" and said he plans to convene the committee to discuss the case.

Last week, the Post-Dispatch reported that the Missouri Department of Corrections missed chances to get sex offender treatment for convicted burglar Brian Walters years before he was accused of the killing. The newspaper found that Walters confessed during state-mandated counseling in 2003, and to his parole officer, that he had committed a sexual assault in 1999 and fantasized about doing it again.

Walters told the counselor he had "consistent thoughts of hurting and/or killing sexual partners," according to the parole officer's report, obtained by the newspaper. Walters then "emphasized" to the parole officer that "he has a problem and needs help."

The parole officer asked the parole board to require Walters to get treatment and to more closely monitor him. But state prison officials never offered or required treatment, even after Walters was returned to prison for committing another burglary.

Ten days after Walters' second release from prison, prosecutors say, he raped and stabbed Nancy Miller, 59, a retired Post-Dispatch editor and columnist.

Nanci Gonder, a spokeswoman for Gov. Matt Blunt, told the newspaper that prison officials have begun a review of the case and how they process others like it.

Members of the Board of Probation and Parole, appointed by the governor, and Corrections Department officials have refused to say why they didn't offer sex offender treatment to Walters, now 27.

They say state law requires them to keep parole documents secret and that their policy is not to discuss anything but basic information about parolees.

Corrections officials would not say whether they plan to change policies or discuss Walters' case with the legislative committee.

"I think those questions have to be asked, and we have to find answers," Bruns said.

The lawmakers said the agency may lack adequate resources to do its job and may not be communicating well internally.

The Department of Corrections oversees 20 prisons and more than 100,000 people in prison, on probation or on parole.

"Someone might say this is unusual -- one case in 100, one in 1,000. But for this lady and her loved ones, that's one too many," Kennedy said.

Bruns said the committee may consider legislation to make parole documents available for public review.