A man convicted of killing a Holliston police officer 43 years ago has been released on parole, the Massachusetts town's police chief said Wednesday.
Rolando Jimenez fatally shot Holliston Police Officer John Johnson on Aug. 13, 1981. He was found guilty of second-degree murder at a trial in Middlesex Superior Court in February of 1982.
Jimenez was granted parole last year, prompting a scathing response from Holliston Police Chief Matthew Stone, who had testified at Jimenez's March 2022 parole hearing in opposition of his release.
"As a police officer, as a human being and as your Police Chief, I am disgusted with the Parole Board’s decision to grant Inmate Jimenez parole," he wrote in a statement at the time.
In a new statement Wednesday, Stone said he had learned Jimenez was a free man.
"The decision by the Massachusetts Parole Board to release the murderer of a police officer back into the society which he once terrorized is not only unfathomable, but it goes against every moral that is right and that is just," Stone wrote.
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Display cases in the lobby of the Holliston Police Department contain various pictures of Johnson and news clippings detailing his murder in 1981. The training room located to the right of the lobby is named in honor of Johnson, displaying his portrait, and an American flag flown over the United States Capital in his memory, besides his name front and center.
"We're minded every day about his sacrifice," Officer Jim Garrett told NBC10 Boston last year.
Johnson, a six-year-veteran of the Holliston Police Department, was on patrol when he spotted a car reported stolen from Natick. While chasing one of the suspected robbers, Johnson was shot and killed with his own service weapon — once during the struggle, twice while he was on the ground, according to police.
He was 31 years old, married with two young children, ages 10 and 3.
"He didn't have that chance to live his life and raise his family and see his grandchildren. It's sad," said Holliston Police Lt. Chad Thompson.
Jimenez, then 22, was arrested after a three-hour manhunt involving over 100 police officers from surrounding communities and the Massachusetts State Police. Jimenez was convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. He was also convicted of larceny of a stolen motor vehicle.
At that time, Jimenez denied shooting Johnson, stating that after the officer grabbed him and was on top of him, he heard three shots, checked himself to see if he was shot, saw the officer fall to the ground, became afraid and ran through the woods until he was arrested, according to Massachusetts Parole Board records. A forensic pathologist testified at trial that Johnson was shot in the chest, abdomen and thigh, and that based on his examination, the gun would have been fired from not more than six inches from the body. He noted it would have been very improbable that the abdominal wound could have been sustained in the manner described by Jimenez.
Jimenez served over 42 years in prison. He is now 65 years old.
On July 31, 2023, the Massachusetts Parole Board issued a decision following Jimenez’s Parole Board hearing in March of 2022, granting him parole. The board wrote, "He has participated (in), and appears to have benefitted from, rehabilitative programs … He has not had a sanctioned disciplinary report in 20 years. (The) Board also notes he has significant health issues, including recent history of prostate cancer."
Jimenez was denied parole five times following prior hearings in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. During his parole board hearing in 2019, he apologized for the pain and suffering he caused and took full responsibility for the death of Johnson, according to the parole board decision document issued in 2020.
