COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. | A woman who has spent over two decades in prison for shooting and killing the wife of her lover while dressed in military fatigues and a ski mask has been released to a Lakewood halfway house.
The Gazette (https://bit.ly/1pCmcN1) reported Wednesday that 52-year-old Jennifer Reali was transferred to Intervention Community Corrections Services this week because of her behavior and the amount of time she has served for killing Dianne Hood outside a community center on Sept. 12, 1990.
The Army officer’s wife, 28 at the time, was arrested two days later and confessed to killing Hood, a mother of three, as she left a lupus support meeting.
She was sentenced to life in prison for what was called the “Fatal Attraction” slaying but her sentence was commuted by former Gov. Bill Ritter in 2011, making her eligible for parole sooner. Her parole was denied later that year mostly because of opposition from Hood’s family.
She offered a tearful apology to the parole board then, saying that she wished Hood was still alive.
Elvin Gentry, the lawyer who represented Reali during her trial, said he thinks she has been rehabilitated.
“She’s been a model prisoner,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any likelihood at all that she would ever harm anybody again. I’ve thought that since her conviction.”
Hood’s husband, Brian Hood, was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy and is serving a 37-year prison sentence. He escaped from a medium-security in Canon City with another inmate in 1997 but was later caught.
Information from: The Gazette, https://www.gazette.com
I remember this case, which was in part marked by a Svengali like husband swaying an overly credulous mistress using Bible verses to help convince her to kill. Jennifer Reali definitely deserved the time she got but was always remorseful for the crime (unlike the husband). I understand why Dianne Hood’s family wouldn’t want her paroled, but now that she’s out, I hope she can live a productive life.