Murderer denied pardon

The State Board of Pardons and Paroles recently denied parole for James Edward Addison, 42. Addison was convicted of armed robbery and felony murder in 1992 for the murder of Jenkins County resident Betty Bennett, 58. Addison received a life sentence. This was the second time the Parole Board denied Addison parole.

On July 24, 1992, a bread deliveryman discovered Mrs. Bennett lying behind the counter in the store she operated in the Four Points community. She had been shot, and she died the following day.

Addison was identified as a suspect and located in Florida. He returned to Georgia with an investigator from Jenkins County on Aug. 6, 1992 and was subsequently arrested. Addison identified his co-defendant as Victor Hall, but Hall was killed on Aug. 3, 1992 prior to being arrested.

"Addison will not be paroled at this time," stated Parole Board Vice-Chair L. Gale Buckner. "Life should be valued above all things and no one should act so callously as to take another's life for their own trivial gain."

Georgia statute mandates that all inmates serving life sentences in Georgia's prison system be considered for parole at specified intervals. Consideration does not imply that parole will be granted. There are approximately 6,000 inmates serving life sentences in Georgia's prison system. Approximately 50 percent of those inmates have been considered for parole and denied at least one time.

Addison is serving his sentence at Hancock State Prison in Sparta.