LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – On July 3, 2025, Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer – widely seen as a likely 2028 presidential contender – granted clemency to seven individuals, including four convicted murderers who have been serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Among them: Patrick Graham McNamee, now 86 years old, who was sentenced in 1968 for the brutal killing of Battle Creek greenhouse co-owner and manager Harold Simonds.
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The Michigan Parole Board recommended all seven clemencies, which Governor Whitmer approved. A pardon erases a conviction from a person’s record after their sentence is served, while a commutation reduces the sentence but leaves the conviction in place.
Whitmer’s office cited the men’s exemplary prison conduct but offered no further public details on the crimes, the victims, or the sentence reductions.
In addition to giving four sentence reductions, Whitmer pardoned three other men, including one previously convicted of murder, Jerry Lee Williams. According to the Detroit News, Williams had been sentenced to life in prison for second degree murder in 1971 in Macomb County. State officials say that since his release, he’s become a social worker, church deacon and youth mentor.
The crime Whitmer won’t talk about.
Despite limited public details about the men and the governor’s silence on the crimes behind her clemency decisions, Michigan News Source uncovered more detailed information about at least one of the convicted murderers.
On January 4, 1968, the Battle Creek Enquirer reported on McNamee’s trial, detailing that the victim, Harold Simonds, was discovered “dead, bloody and beaten” in October 1966 at the Swonk Greenhouse in Battle Creek. His body was found by his fiancé, Betsy Hoover, and one of Simond’s nephews after Simonds didn’t show up at Betsy’s house for dinner. When Simonds was found, Betsy said his feet and hands were taped together and a stocking had been pulled partially over his head.
McNamee, then 28, was convicted of first-degree murder. Documents from “People v. McNamee” say that the murder happened during an armed robbery.
Judge condemns murder before handing down life sentence.
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The court never wavered on the horror of the act. At sentencing on June 25, 1968, Calhoun County Circuit Judge Ronald M. Ryan said, “You were convicted by a jury of participating in the horrible murder of Mr. Simonds, who was a peaceful, quiet, industrious businessman…the act was dreadful and shocking to the senses.”
Judge Ryan concluded, “As you know, the sentence for first degree murder is mandatory. You are confined to the Southern Michigan State Prison for the period of your natural life.” When asked if he had anything to say before the sentence was imposed, McNamee reportedly stood silent.
A Governor’s power, victims forgotten, juries ignored.
The three pardons and McNamee’s commutation – along with those of Larry Cross (incarcerated since 1979), William Hunt (since 1967), and Jamie Meade (since 1993) – highlights how elected officials can override juries and sideline victims’ families in the name of “equity” and “criminal justice.” But for the victims and their families, there’s no justice in sight.
