LIVINGSTON – At the Polk County Courthouse, Livingston closed the case on one of its most notorious crimes Friday afternoon.

“I’ve got a daughter that will turn 30 this year and she’s never seen me when I didn’t have to worry about this case,” said defense attorney John Wright.

Pam Moseley Carpenter’s 1979 rape and murder stung this sleepy town about 70 miles northeast of Houston.

But her killer, John Paul Penry, has languished in the legal system for 28 years.

Three juries have sentenced Penry to death for the crime. Three times his case was overturned on appeal because Penry has always claimed he was mentally retarded.

“He was lying,” said Ellen May, Carpenter’s niece. “He has committed the biggest fraud on the American justice system that anybody has ever committed.”

Friday afternoon for the first time Penry he admitted he was not retarded.

Isn’t now.

Wasn’t then when he killed Carpenter.

“That’s probably something he had to say,” said Belinda Penry Gonzales, John Paul’s sister.

“My opinion is he’s retarded now and was retarded then,” Wright added. “When they say we’ll give you a life sentence if you say you’re not retarded, he took the deal.”

The deal takes him off death row and puts him in prison for life.

He also agreed not to make any more appeals, something Carpenter’s family wanted.

KHOU-TV

John Paul Penry

Penry’s case went to the U.S. Supreme Court twice.

He was once 15 hours from execution.

But his claim of retardation always saved his life.

It did this time, too.

But 28-years later, Carpenter’s family, found solace with Penry’s revelation that he is not only a murderer but a liar who won’t leave prison until he dies.