There is growing frustration and anger regarding the state’s justice system after a parolee who was convicted of murdering and raping a Salamanca woman in 2000 was nabbed in Cattaraugus County early Wednesday after fleeing the location he had been staying in at Poughkeepsie this week.

Edward Kindt, who was released from state prison more than a year ago, was caught in Salamanca after his escape.

Cattaraugus County sheriff’s deputies report Kindt was found with the assistance of the Salamanca Police Department, state Department of Corrections and New York State Parole at 140 West Ave. and taken into custody at 1:41 a.m. He was being held in Cattaraugus County Jail.

Kindt was convicted of murdering Penny Brown. On Mother’s Day 1999, while she was out jogging with her two dogs on a nature trail near her home, she was ambushed and sexually assaulted by Kindt, who ultimately strangled her with her dog’s leash.

Both state Sen. George Borrello and Assemblyman Joseph Giglio blasted Gov. Kathy Hochul’s pro-criminal Board of Parole upon learning Kindt escaped custody of his supervised transitional housing in Dutchess County and returned to Salamanca. This is the second time he has violated his parole since being released by the Parole Board. In returning to Salamanca, he also violated the order of the Seneca Nation banning him from their nation for at least one year.

Borrello condemned the Division of Parole for not notifying the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office of his escape until six days after he had absconded, a situation which put the community unknowingly at risk. “We are outraged that our community was put at risk by the Division of Parole’s failure to notify authorities in Cattaraugus County that Edward Kindt had escaped until six long days had passed,” Borrello said.

“With his record as a vicious predator and murderer and disciplinary violations while in prison, this individual should have never seen the light of day again. The very least that DOCCS could do to ensure public safety is to make sure his transitional supervision was as tightly controlled as possible. They failed to do that and there should be an inquiry as to why.

“The pro-criminal policies of the Hochul administration and the Democratic majorities continue to put New Yorkers at risk. They destroyed public safety at every touch point in the criminal justice system. From the so-called bail and discovery ‘reforms’, to the “Less is More” parole changes which allowed Kindt to violate parole once and avoid returning to prison, and their reckless Parole Board which is stacked with activists who are releasing dangerous people every day. Every New Yorker should be concerned and outraged at the danger created by irresponsible Democratic policies.”

Kindt was banned by the Seneca Nation of Indians from all Seneca Nation Territories for life. Not only did Kindt violate our laws, he violated the laws of the Seneca Nation of Indians.

“This is completely unacceptable and further proof that granting killers like Kindt parole doesn’t work,” Giglio said. “Parole knew Kindt wasn’t at his group home last Thursday, but it took them almost a week to notify the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Department. They put our community at risk.

“The first thing they should have done is notify the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Department when they knew Kindt had violated his parole and they didn’t know where he was. Where did they think he was going?

“DOCCS is trying to blame the delay in notification on the last week’s Microsoft outage. Well, the phone lines weren’t down. They should have called the sheriff’s department. This proves Kindt should never have been a candidate for parole. He’s never shown an ounce of remorse for taking Penny Brown’s life. He belongs behind bars for life.”

Later in the day Wednesday, Borrello and Giglio sent a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul demanding Kindt be returned to prison as well as for Hochul to change the way the state Parole Board does business.

“Kindt was only apprehended thanks to the swift and effective police work of the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Department,” Borrello and Giglio said. “He ran from his parole-assigned group home in Dutchess County on Thursday, July 18. The Sheriff’s Department was not alerted that Kindt was no longer in DOCCS control until Tuesday, July 23, when the assistance of the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Department was requested by DOCCS Fugitive Apprehension Team to arrest him. With all due respect, we believe Kindt should be returned to prison. Kindt’s record as a vicious predator and murderer, his disciplinary violations while in prison and this latest parole violation are proof positive that he should never have been released to begin with.”

Cattaraugus County legislators also indicated their angst. During Wednesday’s meeting, lawmakers were approving resolutions related to his violations of parole. Cattaraugus County lawmakers approved a resolution in March this year that was sent to the Dutchess County Legislature calling on the resignation of the two state Parole Board members who voted for Kindt to be released and demanding Kindt be sent back to prison to serve the rest of his life sentence. The Cattaraugus County lawmakers were moved to send their resolution to every county legislature throughout the state as well as state lawmakers after Kindt allegedly violated his parole in November 2023.

Kindt’s escape comes only a week after Borrello introduced S.9872, a bill that establishes the Parole Board Accountability Act. Borrello’s legislation would require incarcerated individuals who are released on parole, via a vote that is not unanimous, be placed in the community where one of the two board members primarily reside. It also establishes a procedure of which of the two board members’ communities the parolee will be released in.

Borrello’s bill would require parolees who are released when a parole vote isn’t unanimous to be placed in a shelter, halfway house, or a transitional residential facility that is geographically closest to the community of one of the two board members who voted in favor of the person’s release. The state corrections commissioner would decide which community the parolee is released into with a coin flip that is publicly available on a live web stream.

“Further, by mandating that the decision of where to place the releasee is publicly available live-streamed coin flip, makes the process transparent,” Borrello wrote. “This openness helps build public trust in our parole board process, demonstrating that decisions are made fairly and without bias.”

Borrello was critical of the parole decision regarding Kindt in 2023.

“Kindt had interviewed with the Parole Board in February 2023 after being denied parole several times, but his last request was granted, and the members voted 2-1 to set the murderer free. He became a free man at the age of 39, the same age Brown was when she was killed,” Borrello wrote. “Kindt should never have been released from prison, especially not in Poughkeepsie. The Board members who voted in favor of his release should have been held accountable for their actions, highlighting the need for this legislation.”