On this day, April 3, 1983, convicted murderer Willie Horton raped a Prince George’s County woman and beat and tied her boyfriend after escaping from prison while out on a weekend pass.
Horton became a major issue during the 1988 presidential race. Michael Dukakis, the Democratic nominee, supported the furlough program as Massachusetts governor.
Horton’s brutal attack in Oxon Hill came a year after he failed to return from his 10th weekend furlough. He had been serving a sentence of life without parole for killing a 17-year-old.
After a Republican ad campaign ran criticizing Dukasis for his support of the furlough program and referencing the Horton incident, cries of racism ensued. Horton was black. The victims were white. Republican strategist Lee Atwater later apologized to Dukakis for the “naked cruelty” of the campaign.
Horton, 49, is serving two life terms plus 85 years in Maryland.
-Scott McCabe
