BY RYAN O’CONNOR
Melanie Cooper will only serve half of her original sentence.
After Cooper pleaded guilty to hindering apprehension, a felony, in the investigation of Eric Windhurst’s 1985 murder of her stepfather, Danny Paquette, she was sentenced in December to three to six years in prison.
But after a three-judge panel reviewed her case, at the request of Cooper, her sentence was reduced to 15 to 30 months.
According to published reports, Cooper met with the judges on June 15 and the panel made its decision on Friday, June 22.
“Melanie appreciates the careful review conducted by the sentence review panel in the reduction of her sentence,” said Cooper’s lawyer, Paul McDonough.
Cooper, 37, has been serving her sentence at state women’s prison in Goffstown since December and will be eligible for parole in March.
Eric Windhurst, Cooper’s high school classmate, is serving a 15- to 36-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2006.
Cooper testified against him, and according to Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeff Strelzin, the prosecutor in the case, Windhurst couldn’t have been brought to justice without her assistance.
Still, Superior Court Judge Robert Lynn went against the state’s recommendation of a five-year suspended sentence, instead sentencing her to a three- to six-year prison sentence.
Prior to Cooper’s meeting with the panel, Strelzin said the state would stand by its original recommendation.
“It was in recognition, primarily, of her cooperation in the case that allowed us to solve the 20-year old unsolved murder,” he said. “We also considered who she was at the time, and a lack of criminal history and what she’s done with her life since.”
Cooper had been living out of state, with her husband and five children, and had lied to police during prior investigations.
She claimed she was with Windhurst, who was 17 years old at the time he shot and killed Paquette. She was 15 years old.
Cooper told Windhurst that Paquette had sexually assaulted her, but said she was unaware Windhurst would kill her stepfather.
McDonough said the panel ruled Cooper had nothing to do with the homicide.