Gov. Charlie Baker made a rare decision to recommend two men for commutation from life sentences last month. Wednesday, the first of those two men, Thomas Koonce, had his opportunity to make his case.
“My life will be forever dedicated to giving back to society for taking this young man’s life. Mr. Santos deserved to live his life to the fullest, and I am responsible for his death,” Koonce said in front of the Governor’s Council, the deciding body that could give Koonce his freedom.
Koonce, a Brockton native, was convicted of first-degree murder after the 1987 murder of Mark Santos, who was just 24 at the time and a resident of New Bedford. Baker’s commutation would reduce his charge to a second-degree murder. Baker’s two commutations are the first in his seven years as governor. The last commutation hearing was held in 1997.
Koonce, now 54, was on leave from the Marine Corps and was spending a night out with friends when a rival group of men from New Bedford arrived in the area and surrounded another car, “smashing the windows, they were stepping on top of the car,” Koonce said.
As the group headed toward the car Koonce and some friends were in, Koonce ducked down in the seat and fired what he described as a single “warning shot” with his gun out the window as his friend sped away. That single shot killed Santos. Koonce, accompanied by his mother, later turned himself in to spare a friend from being pinned with the shooting.
Much of the hearing centered on the minutiae of the case, and whether Koonce truly fired a warning shot into the air, or whether he fired knowingly at the group of New Bedford men.
Another chunk of the hearing focused on Koonce’s character. Koonce, who has been incarcerated for 30 years, received a bachelor’s degree from Boston University while incarcerated, and also helped establish the restorative justice program at MCI-Norfolk. Koonce’s 30-year-old son testified on his behalf, as did Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn.
“If you went to the staff at MCI-Norfolk, and you asked them about Thomas Koonce, even correction officers who really don’t like inmates would say he’s a stand-up guy,” said Pastor Donald Horsman.
The Santos family opposes the commutation and submitted a letter saying so which was read during the hearing.
The Council will make a recommendation on Koonce’s case on Feb. 16.
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