SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A 62-year-old downstate woman who killed her two infant daughters in the 1980's has been granted parole.
Paula Sims claimed that her infant daughters were kidnapped three years apart. Both would be found dead and she was not charged with murder until after the death of her second daughter.
She was sentenced with First Degree Murder and life without parole. She would later claim Postpartum psychosis. However, Governor J.B. Pritzker decided to grant her parole after serving 32 years and the Prisoner Review Board voted 12-1 in favor of parole after hearing testimonies and discussion.
Her attorney, Jed Stone, told the Belleville News-Democrat the parole "is a recognition that postpartum psychosis is real and the women who suffer from that mental illness need to be treated and understood."
However, Tom Haine, the prosecutor in Madison County where Sims was tried, argued against parole. He wrote in a five-page letter to the board that she is conveniently using psychological explanations for the murders without providing any real basis as to why her life sentence should be overturned.
Related
