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- Imprisoned for 16 years after killing the man who raped his college girlfriend in 1991, John Valverde may soon be paroled. Valverde killed Joel Schoenfeld, who was on probation for two other sexual attacks when he raped Valverde's girlfriend.
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- Congressman Charlie Rangel is out of the hospital and back to work, making an appearance today. Whatever one's politics, that's happy news.
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Imprisoned for 16 years after killing the man who raped his college girlfriend in 1991, John Valverde may soon be paroled. Valverde killed Joel Schoenfeld, who was on probation for two other sexual attacks when he raped Valverde's girlfriend.
Wow, 16 years in jail? They should have given this guy a medal. Free John Valverde
Valverde was a 21-year-old college student with no criminal record when he gunned down Joel Schoenfeld on Jan. 5, 1991.
Schoenfeld, 47, used his job as a freelance photographer to lure women into his Greenwich Village loft, where police said he'd sexually assault and rape them.
One of his victims was Valverde's 19-year-old girlfriend, whom he'd attacked after Valverde dropped her off at his Greenwich Village loft.
Valverde went to police on three occasions to try to get them to arrest Schoenfeld, who was on probation for sexually assaulting two other women.
They told him they couldn't do anything without the girlfriend's cooperation, but she was too traumatized to press charges. When Schoenfeld started calling the girlfriend, Valverde borrowed a gun from a friend and went to his loft.
After an argument, Valverde shot Schoenfeld in the head.
A jury cleared Valverde of murder charges, but he was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 to 30 years.
While behind bars, Valverde finished college, got a master's degree, was certified as a paralegal, worked as a teacher's aide helping fellow inmates to read and write, taught theology and worked as an HIV/AIDS counselor.
Even a correction officer wrote a letter supporting his release, calling him "the perfect example of a model prisoner."