FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. — The family of a man brutally murdered 41 years ago is fighting for change after his convicted killer was granted parole and released from prison Aug. 16.
David Weidert, 17 at the time, was convicted of first-degree murder after killing then 16-year-old Michael Morganti and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
"He loved being a big brother and that's how I felt. I felt loved as a little sister," said Vikki VanDuyne, Morganti's younger sister. "I was really tight with him even though he was 10 years old. We grew up together."
Her great memories of childhood with her brother are tarnished by what happened to him in Fresno County in 1980. Weidert tortured her brother for 45 minutes before stabbing and strangling him. Morganti had a developmental disability.
"Mike never fought back. He's 6'5". Mentally, he's 13 or 14 years old. He begs for his life. This goes on for almost an hour," VanDuyne said.
VanDuyne said her brother talked to law enforcement about a burglary committed by Weidert. Morganti was used as a lookout. In retaliation, Weidert and an accomplice forced Morganti to dig his own grave, beat him, and then buried him alive. He died by suffocation.
Weidert’s release was blocked three times before, twice by former Governor Jerry Brown and once, last year, by Governor Gavin Newsom.
But this time around, something changed. On Aug. 16, Weidert was released from prison on parole in San Francisco, which is something VanDuyne fought against time and time again.
"How do you know that you aren't going to do it again?" she asked.
According to Weidert's lawyer, it's a matter of the law and three psychologists independently concluded he was a low risk for release, he said.
"There was a corroboration or consensus of expert opinion all reaching and arriving at the same conclusion that Mr. Weidert doesn't pose a risk to the public," said Charles Carbone, a prisoner rights attorney.
Carbone reiterated that doesn't mean his crime was not horrific.
He said that's not the point here. Legally, Weidert was released and the law allowed it.
"He was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. Wasn't a death sentence. Wasn't a life without the possibility sentence, so therefore there has to be a respect for the law," Carbone said.
Now, VanDuyne wants to change the law.
"I want to change the burden from the state to the inmate because there are bad people who should stay in prison and he's one of them and he's not going to now," VanDuyne said.
VanDuyne does not want future families in the parole process to go through her pain.
"I'm not going anywhere. My name is Vikki VanDuyne, and I will find people who will work with me," she said. "There are some people we have to keep in and that's what I'm going to work on."
Newsom this year accepted the finding of the Board of Parole Hearings, "which determined that he does not pose a current unreasonable risk to public safety," his office told ABC news.
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