In 1986, then-teenager Rod Matthews plotted to kill 14 year-old classmate Shaun Ouillette. As part of a premeditated scheme, Matthews lured Ouillette into the woods and brutally murdered him, in an effort to prove to his friends that he could, and would, kill. In his testimony, Matthews later admitted he just wanted to know what it would feel like to kill someone.
Covering the trial for a local newspaper, then-reporter Margery Eagan wrote, “Sitting between his defense lawyers in Dedham superior court, 15 year-old Rod Matthews looked nothing like a thrill killer. He looked like the kid you remember from high school: The quiet, serious one who wore hush puppies and cardigans—the one who wouldn’t be interested in varsity football but played great chess and prizes at the science fair...what’s scary is the ordinariness of it all, standing out against the horror of what supposedly went on — not only with Rod, but with the two high school buddies he took into the woods to see Shaun’s bludgeoned body.”
Matthews was the first juvenile to be tried in Massachusetts as an adult. Thirty years later he’s asking for parole, saying that he is a changed man. The loved ones of Shaun Ouillette, who have dealt with a profound loss after this senseless killing, don’t think Matthews deserves a second chance. Shaun’s younger brother Matt Ouillette made a victim impact statement at the parole hearing last week, and he joined Jim Braude and Margery Eagan on Boston Public Radio to discuss why he thinks his brother’s killer should remain in prison for the rest of his days. To hear the interview, click on the audio link above.
The record for Rod Matthews's parole hearing will be kept open until April 12, 2016. The parole board will take public comment into consideration when making their decision. Submissions received by then should be considered by the board. Matt Ouillette created the following email address where people can submit their impact statements/community comment: remembermybigbrother@gmail.com.
