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J.B. Bounds hearing set for Oct. 16
JB Bounds w sm
BOUNDS
The fifth parole hearing for convicted murderer Gerald Wayne (J.B.) Bounds is set for Oct. 16.Bounds, 66, was sentenced to life in prison in 1981 after being convicted of the murder of Sherman Wright. Bounds at the former Odyssey Arcade on West Broad Street in Smithville.He was found guilty of shooting Wright once in the head in front of the arcade, which was located across the street from the Dairy Queen, where the Discount Tobacco Outlet currently operates.Bounds has remained in prison for 32 years.Bounds has maintained that the February 2, 1981 shooting, apparently sparked by a disagreement over a gambling debt, was unintentional.After hearing testimony at Bounds' Oct. 2011 parole hearing, State Board of Pardons and Paroles member Yusuf Hakeem voted that the case be put off for two more years before Bounds’ case could be heard again, and recommended that he become involved in such cognitive behavior programs as "Thinking for a Change,” “Criminal Thinking" and "Victim Impact" during his remaining time behind bars.The final decision then rested with the other six members of the board, three of whom voted in agreement with Hakeem, insuring that Bounds would spend at least two more years in jail.“Something that gives me great pause and great concern is your account of what took place,” Hakeem said at the 2011 hearing, “particularly when I compare that to the account that's in the appeals record. To me they're very different.