Man Convicted of Oneonta Murder Up For Parole

The state parole board will soon hear the case of 44-year-old David Dart, convicted of 2nd degree murder in the stabbing death of 18-year-old Gillian Gibbons in the Oneonta parking garage in 1989. 

Dart is serving a sentence of 25 years to life at the medium security Otisville State Prison. According to Jenna's Law, signed into law in 1998 by Governor Pataki, all violent felony offenders must serve at least 6/7 of their sentence  and must be supervised post-release for up to 5 years.

Gibbon's sister, Jennifer Kirkpatrick, is scheduled to present her victim impact statement to the parole board on December 13th. Since it was discovered the state is considering the release of Dart, there has been an outpouring of local support for Gillian Gibbon's family. Approximately 500 people have joined the Facebook page, Stop PAROLE of Gillian's Murderer.

Dart originally confessed to the killing of Gibbons and pointed officers to the location of the murder weapon. He later unsuccessfully appealed his conviction, claiming his confession and the seized physical evidence were products of an illegal detention. The summary of The People of the State of New York vs. David W. Dart reveals that he had been arrested several times previous to the killing of Gibbons.

Update: Dart's parole hearing has been rescheduled to January.