He Was Granted Parole After 31 Years. A Newspaper Ad Is Keeping Him in Prison.

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Bell shot the cashier, 21-year-old store manager Bert Bell (no relation) nine times before fleeing with a .38-caliber pistol, a box of bullets, and a bag of money. After the robbery, a tense back-and-forth took place between Frederick Bell and James, during which Bell allegedly threatened to kill James because he didn’t want any witnesses. It was during this back and forth that Frederick Bell admitted to firing the shot that killed Bert Bell, according to court documents.

After Coffey and Doss intervened in the argument, the two joined Bell and a new participant, Bernard Gladney, who drove them to Memphis, Tennessee. Here, Bell committed another gunpoint robbery, resulting in the death of another cashier, 20-year-old Tommy White.

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Could you imagine if this was New York and the Times had that control?

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On May 6, 1991, Bell, then 19 years old, was one of two men involved in two fatal robberies across two states, according to court documents. The first occurred at a local convenience store, Sparks Stop-and-Go, in Grenada County. After visiting the location with three friends, Bell, armed with a .22-caliber pistol, and one of the others, Anthony Doss, decided that they would rob the store. The other two men who decided against committing the crime, Robert James and Frank Coffey, testified that they heard screaming and gunshots from the store before seeing Bell and his associate return from inside.

Bell shot the cashier, 21-year-old store manager Bert Bell (no relation) nine times before fleeing with a .38-caliber pistol, a box of bullets, and a bag of money. After the robbery, a tense back-and-forth took place between Frederick Bell and James, during which Bell allegedly threatened to kill James because he didn’t want any witnesses. It was during this back and forth that Frederick Bell admitted to firing the shot that killed Bert Bell, according to court documents.

After Coffey and Doss intervened in the argument, the two joined Bell and a new participant, Bernard Gladney, who drove them to Memphis, Tennessee. Here, Bell committed another gunpoint robbery, resulting in the death of another cashier, 20-year-old Tommy White. Coffey, Doss, Gladney, and Bell were eventually arrested at a Memphis residence. In 1993, Bell was found guilty of capital murder in the killing of Bert Bell. He also pleaded guilty to the Memphis shooting, along with Coffey.

Some 29 years later, after decades of appeals and evaluation, the Mississippi parole board ruled that Bell would be better served living the rest of his life out of prison and under parole supervision. The decision has upset the family of Bert Bell, who are furious that their loved one’s murderer will likely be a free man in the coming months.

“On August 29, I received the gut-wrenching letter from the parole board that tells me that they have decided to grant this offender parole,” Bert’s brother, Gene Bell, told Super Talk FM last week. “My brother was never able to receive an appeal. He was never able to appeal his life the nine times he was shot.”

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