No pardon for ex-girlfriend of notorious US killer

Nebraska's pardons board has refused to pardon the murder conviction of the ex-girlfriend of Charles Starkweather, the infamous killer who went on a rampage in the 1950s that was later immortalised in movies, books and two hit songs.

The board on Tuesday voted 3-0 to deny the application from Caril Ann Fugate, even though some relatives of Starkweather's victims lobbied in her favour.

Fugate was 14 when Starkweather, then 19, went on a killing spree in 1957-58 that left 11 people dead in Nebraska and Wyoming, including her mother, stepfather and baby half-sister.

She spent 17 years in prison on a murder conviction before she was paroled in 1976.  She has since married and lives in Michigan under the name Caril Ann Clair. Starkweather was executed in 1959 at the age of 20. Fugate, now 76, wrote in her pardon application that the perception that she willingly joined Starkweather on a murder spree was "too much for me to bear anymore". "Receiving a pardon may somehow alleviate this terrible burden", she wrote.

The board is composed of Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, Attorney General Doug Peterson and Secretary of State Bob Evnen, all Republicans.

After the vote, Peterson said he denied the application because the purpose of the pardons board was to restore a felon's rights, and Fugate's request was "much, much broader" than what board members could offer.

"That's not the role of the pardons board", he said. But the vote infuriated some of Fugate's allies, who were denied a chance to testify. Fugate applied for a pardon once before, in 1996, and was rejected. This time, she had an unusual ally - the granddaughter of two of Starkweather's victims.

Liza Ward, of Duxbury, Massachusetts, said she became convinced that Fugate was innocent after researching the case and visiting all the sites where people were killed. Ward is the granddaughter of S. Lauer and Clara Ward, who were killed in their Lincoln home in December 1958.

The murders formed a loose basis for the 1973 movie "Badlands", as well as other films, and were the subject of Bruce Springsteen's song "Nebraska", and were referenced in Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire".