Kennth Venne's Projected Release Date Confirmed

I have put this off for months, hoping that maybe something would change. I always had a reason for postponing: the holidays are very close, or Paul's son's birthday is coming, but in honesty, I feel like I have failed the Fieseler family, my childhood classmates, and the citizens of Odessa, as a whole. For that I apologize. I did my best, but I found a wall that I could not crush.

I received a notice July of 2021 that stated Kenneth Venne was set for a special hearing. I called the Victims Services Division because I was worried that Venne was ill and was going to be released because of an illness. I was told that the hearing was not concerning any medical issues.

*Note: The following paragraph is very detailed and disturbing. I am not writing it for shock value. I am only citing the action of Venne to show that his actions on that July night in 1983 were those of cold blooded killer and those actions should have been considered Capital Murder*

At the end of August of 2021, I received another letter stating that Venne was subject to a detainer because of one of the felonies he had committed while incarcerated in Jones County. I was excited, to say the least, that someone was also attempting to keep Venne in prison longer than 39 years for committing three murders, three capital murders, in fact, because he also sexually assaulted his own mother-in-law, either after he bludgeoned her to death with a baseball bat, or afterwards. He also stole her vehicle after he bludgeoned and sexually assaulted her, and bludgeoned his own nephews with the same baseball bat while they were all sleeping peacefully in their beds. 

I called the Victims Services Division again to acknowledge the letter and to check that, yes, indeed, this had happened. They did acknowledge that the detainer had been placed, but sadly, they told me that the detainer was removed shortly afterwards. They did not have any more information after that. I called the next logical source, the Jones County District Attorney's Office and spoke to one of the most rude, dare I say, human being, on the planet. I asked to speak to the District Attorney and this woman asked me what it was regarding, which I answered. She actually laughed when I asked her why the detainer had been released. Her exact words, "For a felony that committed in 1997?" For those of you who know me, you know that this did not sit very well with me and I went on to tell her exactly what Venne had done in vivid detail and told her that she probably did not understand some of the terminology because she lives in Podunk, Texas, but there are monsters out there and one was about to be released. 

First it was an injustice by the Ector County court system which only sentenced Venne to 55 years in prison, which at the time meant he would only have to serve 40 of those 55 years. I have testified against drug dealers who received more time than that. Did the District Attorney and Judge come to this agreement with the family's consent? No. They had no idea that the deal had been made. Is it because this family was not affluent enough? My friend, Keith's, mother was not a member of the Junior League? Ruby, Paul, and Keith did not live and did not belong to the Country Club? Honestly, do you believe that if the same thing had happened to an affluent member of the city of Odessa that Venne would have not been given the death penalty? There is discrimination in the judicial system and it does not always discriminate because of the color of someone's skin. In some cases, it also discriminates against people who live below the means set by the upper class. 

In all my research on this case, the only person I found who spoke out about Venne's sentencing to the media, besides the family, was one family friend. I applaud her. I only wish I had been older or wiser to know what had been going on at the time. Times were different back then. No spoke to us about what happened to our friend and classmate, Keith. I do not even recall being told that his murdered had confessed. I lived in fear of falling asleep and being killed while sleeping for decades. I understood why my step-father, a former Marine and Vietnam veteran, would jump out of bed in the middle of the night and grab his gun. I just did not know he had different reasons for his actions. 

Today, I spoke to the Victims Services Division and they confirmed that the projected release date lists online is correct, but is not set in stone. He could be released afterwards or even before August 10, 2022. 

I hope that all of us, wherever we might reside, pay attention to what is going on our courthouses. If you find out that a judge is falling asleep during testimony, do something about it! If you find evidence of corruption or discrimination of ANY kind, do something about it! If you live your life thinking that corruption and discrimination will never affect you, chances are, it already has.

When I find that Kenneth Venne has been released or if I find out any more information, I will update everyone immediately, despite any holidays or birthdays, etc. In a little more than 6 months, a true monster will be loose. I do not know where he is to go after release, but for now he is in the Bill Clements Unit in Amarillo.