He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in February 2007, with the first chance of parole expected after four-and-half years. But Alfred Turner, the man convicted in the high-profile murder trial of Emily Fisher earlier this year, is already eligible for a parole hearing on September 13th.
Fisher, who was prominent in the Memphis social and arts community, was stabbed to death in 1995. Two suspects were found not guilty of the murder in 1996. A few years later, an informant led police to Turner, whose blood was found at Fisher’s house on Central. In January 2007. Turner was convicted of “facilitation to commit felony murder.” Jurors never doubted he left blood at the scene but weren’t convinced he committed the act. Turner had ties to Fisher’s drug-addicted son, Adrian Fisher, who admitted in the first trial that he bragged about his family’s wealth and the presence of a safe in the elegant Midtown house.
According to Dorinda Carter of Tennesssee’s Department of Corrections, Turner was a “Standard Range One” offender who was ordered to serve at least 30 percent of the 25 years. However, after subtracting 1,142 days of jail credit, 304 days of pretrial behavior credit, and 54 days of “sentence reduction credit” earned since his sentence, Turner’s release eligibility date is August 14, 2010. His offense is also eligible for a “safety valve date, an early parole consideration date in place due to prison overcrowding,” says Carter. “He also gets credit for behavior and programs he’s completed while incarcerated.”
Not surprisingly, the family of Fisher, who was stabbed more than 50 times, is shocked. Rebecca Fisher, daughter of the victim, says, “I knew parole was a possiblity but to go up for it now — when it hasn’t even been one-fourth of the allotted time — is crazy. I have to tell myself it’s not going to happen or it will make everything, the whole justice system, seem pointless.”
Fisher, a San Francisco-based writer, performer, and teacher, wrote and performed a one-woman show about the murder titled The Magnificence of the Disaster, which ran in Memphis in May and will run again in March 2008.