TOWN OF SALINA – On the eve of the convicted killer’s ninth parole hearing, true-crime author William D. LaRue is again shining a spotlight on the 1986 murder of Clarkson University sophomore Katherine “Katy” Hawelka, of Syracuse.
LaRue is an award-winning journalist and former reporter for The Post-Standard and a retired online producer for newspaper websites owned by Advance Local. A native of Potsdam, he received a bachelor’s degree in English from State University College at Potsdam and a master’s degree in communications from Syracuse University. LaRue, a father of two, lives in the town of Salina his wife, Kathleen.
LaRue recently released latest book, “The Long Shadow of Katy’s Killer,” through Chestnut Heights Publishing.
This follow-up to his 2021 book, “A Stranger Killed Katy,” gives readers a front-row seat to startling new developments, including her murderer’s 2021 and 2023 parole hearings, where Brian Milton McCarthy clashes with commissioners who question the level of his remorse and challenge his claims that he struck Katy just one time during consensual sex.
His 2023 hearing is his longest and most intense, after McCarthy fails in his demand for a postponement so he can find a way to remove copies of “A Stranger Killed Katy” that found their way into his parole file. At one point, he complains that LaRue “wrote the book to try to make my crime look worse than it really is.”
McCarthy quickly backtracks: “I don’t think you can. It was the most heinous crime, in my opinion.”
“The Long Shadow of Katy’s Killer” is available in both paperback and eBook formats.
LaRue’s first book about Katy Hawelka profiled the 19-year-old and recounted the events of Aug. 29, 1986, when she was beaten, strangled and sexually assaulted outside an ice hockey arena on the Clarkson campus in Potsdam, N.Y. McCarthy, a repeat offender out on parole at the time, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder committed during an attempted rape, and he was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison. His first chance at parole came in 2009; he has been denied eight times since then. McCarthy’s next parole hearing is scheduled for April 2025.
Early chapters of “The Long Shadow of Katy’s Killer” lay the groundwork for understanding McCarthy’s latest parole hearings, examining newly uncovered—and often flawed—psychological evaluations and risk assessments that he has relied upon to argue for his release. The book also devotes chapters to the emotional battle waged by Katy’s family, who present impact statements before every parole hearing to argue he should remain behind bars.
The publication of “A Stranger Killed Katy” in 2021 brought renewed national attention to Katy’s murder, drawing coverage in a two-part episode of the popular “Morbid” true-crime podcast that streamed in 2022. The book and the national podcast has helped to inspire more than 60,000 people to sign the family’s online petition opposing McCarthy’s release.
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