As if the unimaginable tragedy of a 17 year old murdered as she slept on prom night was not enough, the pain for the family of Berlyn Cosman continues. The California Parole Board recently, and for the second time in a year, approved the release of the killer, Paul Crowder.
Crowder was sentenced Nov. 1, 1991, to 15 years to life in state prison for second degree murder and an additional four years for the personal use of a firearm. Despite his claim that the shooting was an accident, a jury convicted, and the Appellant Court upheld, Crowder of Shooting 17-year-old high school student Berlyn Cosman on prom night while she was sleeping in her hotel room at Sterling Crown Suites Hotel in Anaheim.
On October 19, 2011, the California Board of Parole Hearings determined the Crowder is suitable for parole. The only family member of Berlyn Cosman whose voice was presented at the hearing was that of Mark Cosman, the victim’s father. Mr. Cosman wrote the Board that he supported the release of his daughter’s killer.
During the last ten years, while Crowder has been in prison, Mark Cosman has developed a pen pal relationship with his daughter’s murderer.
In letters to the Governor and the parole Board, Mark Cosman, saying Crowder is a changed man, has urged the convicted killer’s release.
While Parole Board hearings are not open to the public, the victim’s family, and the prosecuting District Attorney are able to be present, make statements, and respond to questions from the Parole board. Orange County Senior Deputy District Attorney Paul Chrisopoulos attended the hearing to oppose Crowder’s parole.
According to Chrisopoulos, the pen pal relationship between the victim’s father and the murderer was the Board’s main focus at Crowder’s parole hearing.
“It’s something that was highlighted by the inmate’s attorney, by the inmate, “Chrisopoulos told OC180NEWS. “The Board asked him about his relationship with the father, how that started, how often they communicate, when the last communication was, how many times they have communicated.”
When OC180NEWS asked Deputy DA Chrisopoulos the degree to which the inmate/victim’s father relationship, plus the father urging Crowder’s release, had impacted the Parole Board’s release decision, Chrisopoulos called it “compelling.”
But, Berlyn Cosman’s father’s friendly relationship with his daughter’s killer, as well as Mr. Cosman’s lobbying for Crowder’s release, is not the view of other family members.
“It made me feel that Paul [Crowder] used my dad to get a ticket out of prison,” Berlyn’s sister Morgan told OC180NEWS. “He wanted Crowder to admit exactly what happened in that [hotel] room the minute he walked into that hotel room where Berlyn was sleeping. He will never answer my father that question. He won’t answer it.”
Morgan was never notified of the Parole Board hearing at which she could have opposed Crowder’s release. Berlyn’s mother, Susan, did not know the hearing was happening, and Berlyn’s other sister did not know about the hearing either. Thus, Mark Cosman’s support of Crowder’s release was the only position from family members heard by the Parole Board, and with that information, the Board approved his release from prison.
Notifying victim next of kin is the responsibility of the prison. Initially, when Crowder was sent to prison, Mr. and Mrs. Cosman were married with the same address. But, that was twenty years ago and since then Mark and Susan Cosman have divorced, Morgan has married, and all of the family has moved out of state.
Susan Cosman told OC180NEWS that even though they are divorced, Mark Cosman had kept her informed about upcoming Parole Board hearings, but, Susan did not participate in, and she was not aware of, the most recent hearing where the Board decided in favor of release.
Although Berlyn’s mother Susan Cosman has now publically opposed Crowder’s release, it wasn’t always that way. Mrs. Cosman did not write the Parole Board and never appeared at a hearing.
“I chose not to participate for the last twenty years because I wanted to keep my silence for personal family reasons,” Susan Cosman told OC180NEWS. “No more do I stay silent. I saw that I need to say something, silence does no good. I have already sent a letter to the Governor’s office requesting that they deny parole.”
But, that may be too late. The Parole Board has made their decision and there does not appear to be any process for victims to challenge that decision. Victim Next of kin (only murder cases go to the Governor) can write letters to the Governor, but that is not the same as presenting directly to the two person parole hearing board before a decision is made. Out of 334 parole grants, Governor Brown has reversed 59 and sent 2 back to the Board for reconsideration.
Susan Cosman is not the only family member writing in favor of continued imprisonment for Paul Crowder. Berlyn’s sister Morgan has written and also established an online petition.
“I was outraged, because my father is not the only voice in our family,” Morgan told us when she learned about the hearing and the decision to release Crowder. “Berlyn did not just have a father, she also had a mother and two sisters that loved her dearly. I wanted my voice to be heard and to say..’Look, this guy is not rehabilitated, he’s not taking any sort of action for his crime,’ and I disapprove.”
“I respect you for finding in yourself to forgive him,” Morgan said in reference to her father. “But, to go above and beyond and write the Parole Board and not have it discussed with the family, I just find it so disrespectful to Berlyn because I know Berlyn would not want that.”
Morgan did not express her objection to the release of her sister’s killer because she was not notified of the hearing at which the release decision was made. Coincidentally, less than one week after the Parole Board decided to release Paul Crowder, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services announced that victims of crime will be able to receive automated electronic notification of an offender’s release or scheduled parole board hearing.
The Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) service will allow victims, family members of victims, or witnesses who have testified against an offender to register for notification by phone or e-mail.
“This new, automated system brings victim notification in line with modern technology and with how most people receive their information,” CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate said in a statement. “It’s essential that victims are kept informed of their rights and, if they choose, aware of their offender’s custody status on a real-time basis.”
For offenders sentenced under the Indeterminate Sentencing Law who have a parole consideration hearing with the Board of Parole Hearings, a 90-day advance notice will be sent, followed by a 14-day confirmation notice of the hearing.
“The VINE system is cost-effective and provides easy access for victims who have been through enough adversity already,” said Jean Scott, Acting Chief of the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services. “This automated system will allow victims to obtain access to information 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.”
Victims of an offender, who is serving time in a California State prison facility, now can contact the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services at (877) 256-6877 for assistance in registering for VINE service. The VINE service operator is also available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to assist and can be reached at (877) 411-5588; TTY: (866) 847-1298.
VINE service is available online at http://www.vinelink.com/.
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About Dolores Barr, Publisher
Dolores Barr has lived in Rossmoor since 1992 and has created this site to provide local news for the people of Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Leisure World, Sunset Beach, and Surfside, California. My husband and I have had two students graduate from the Los Alamitos Unified School District and currently our Grandson, Ricky Apodaca, grade 3 at Weaver Elementary, is actively involved in youth baseball through LAYB and youth football through FNL.
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Paul SHOULD NOT be released! What he did was horrible and a changed man? I doubt it! Everyone is a changed MAN when they sit in a 10 x 10 for a few years and have nothing to do but think of WAYS to get out of it! Keep him where he belongs!
He needs to stay in jail and be robbed of his life as Berlyn was robbed of hers, we all miss her and our family has permanently fragmented because of it.