By Mary O’KEEFE

At the end of the commutation of sentence release of Thomas Waterbury from Gov. Gavin Newsom it states, “The act of clemency for Mr. Waterbury does not minimize or forgive his conduct or the harm it caused. It does recognize the work he has done since to transform himself.”

“The harm it caused” seems an inadequate statement.

It was early in the morning of Christmas Eve in 1980 that Waterbury, according to court records and media reports at the time, shot his wife twice in the temple as she slept. He then shot himself, called police and falsely reported that an intruder had entered his home.

The “harm” was in fact the murder of his wife Deborah Bailey Waterbury, who was 26 years old and from a Crescenta Valley family.

The commutation was a surprise to Deborah’s family members including her two brothers Robbie and Jeff and sister Kathy Bailey Goldsworthy. The surprise was twofold for the family. The first was, according to Kathy, none of the siblings were notified of the commutation. Their parents have passed away and Kathy’s husband Dave said the last he checked his contact information was on the victims’ notification list.

“All victims who are registered with the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights Services are notified of any actions on the inmate. Notifications to district attorneys are also conducted. For this case, all proper notifications were made,” said Vicky Waters, spokesperson for Gov. Newsom’s office.

“We were not notified,” Dave said. “I periodically check to see if there is any news about [Waterbury] on the [California State Dept. of Corrections] website. Kathy had mentioned how [COVID-19] is affecting prisons.”

He searched the corrections website and searched the Internet for Waterbury’s name. He found a media report that covered the commutations. He scrolled all the way to the end and there he found Waterbury’s name.

This is something he and the family thought would never happen. When Waterbury was convicted the sentence handed down was life in prison without the possibility of parole and, since he lost his appeal of the conviction in 1983, Dave thought he would be in prison for life.

Dave added to commute that decision seems to go against what the justice system had decided.

Gov. Newsom’s statement concerning Waterbury includes, “[Waterbury] has held the title of provost for the School of Ministry Institute calls.” He added that Waterbury has obtained a bachelor’s degree in theology and a master’s degree in ministry.

These accomplishments, though, to Kathy and Dave are not enough to commute his sentence. They feel that if he has found a way to help others in prison he should stay there and continue to provide that help.

According to court documents, at 4:48 a.m. on Dec. 24, 1980 a call came into the Rialto police station regarding an “incident” at a house on Lancewood Avenue. When officers arrived they found the front door to the house open and upon entering found Thomas Waterbury crouched on the floor and wounded. He told officers he had been wounded by an intruder he described as “Mexican” and mentioned his wife was also injured. At the time a neighbor contacted police and told them there was a young child, 8 to 10 years old, in the house. There was no child at the house; the couple in fact did not have a child. During the investigation police found a small caliber gun that during the trial was reported as belonging to the defendant.

Waterbury told officers that as he and Deborah were sleeping in their bedroom he was awakened by gunshots. He raised up and felt a pain in his chest and saw the intruder. From the beginning the officers had doubts about Waterbury’s version of events. They arrested him that morning but he was released soon after.

Waterbury and his wife Deborah had only recently moved into the house in Rialto. Waterbury had gone to the residence to do some yard maintenance prior to moving in, according to Dave.

During the investigation, according to court records a neighbor told detectives that the Sunday before the murder he had spoken to Waterbury who introduced himself and a woman, who was not Deborah, as his wife. There was an 8- to 9-year- old boy he introduced as their son. The investigation found the woman who he had introduced as his wife was working in Santa Monica. When speaking to police, the woman admitted the last time she saw the defendant was the night before the killing. She admitted they had been having an affair and they had been together after he was released from jail prior to his trial.

According to reports, Waterbury had also taken out a $100,000 insurance policy on his wife prior to the murder.

“[San Bernardino] District Attorney Jason Anderson completely disagrees with this decision,” said Mike Bires, public affairs officer with the San Bernardino District Attorney’s Office, regarding Gov. Newsom’s decision to commute. He added it is unusual to have a sentence commuted for a person convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole.

Since the conviction Waterbury has not reached out to the Bailey family members. The only contact since the murder was a letter to Deborah’s parents during the trial.

“He wrote a letter to her parents when he was out on bond. He wrote them a letter, two to four pages, and basically said he didn’t know why they were so upset with him. He said he loved their daughter,” Dave said. “He also said she was pregnant … the autopsy showed she was not pregnant.”

Deborah’s murder is never far from the family’s thoughts. There are birthdays and holidays that are painful and the memory of that Christmas Eve lingers.

“The one thing I would like people to know is that he took away [Deborah’s] voice on that Christmas Eve in 1980,” Dave said. “And now we are the only voice she has.”

All the commutations require the grantees to appear before the board of parole for suitability hearings when parole commissioners will determine whether the grantee can be safely released to the community, according to Gov. Newsom’s office. Thomas Waterbury’s parole suitability hearing has a tentative date of Jan. 7, 2021.

CVW will continue to follow this story and share updates as warranted.

  Mary Okeefe