Daughter continues fight over mother’s murder

Dr. Birte Pfleger-Cullinan has spoken to the Crier in the past about her experience as a crime victim navigating the California Parole system. She lost her mother and nearly lost her father in a 1994 shooting at Vista Point.

Two Banning men were convicted for their parts in the shootings, and the shooter himself, 17 at the time, pleaded guilty to first degree murder and received a sentence of 25 years to life. When this man, Thongxay Nilakou, became eligible for parole, Pfleger-Cullinan began attending his hearings in an attempt to keep him behind bars. Nilkout was paroled in 2023.

Pfleger Cullinan wrote an essay for the Associated Press that discussed her ordeal with the parole board system. In those pre-COVID days, attendance required long drives and days away from home and work.

She continues to speak out as a victims’ rights advocate, and this month she notified the Crier of a change in parole board policy: Victim statements may no longer include photos of the victim after the “incident.”

At a public hearing Wednesday, Feb. 21, members of the public, including district attorneys (DA) and relatives of crime victims, spoke out against this new policy. This reporter listened in via Zoom.

Many attendees spoke of the difficulty in expressing with words alone the damage a crime causes, and the board heard often that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” One Orange County DA opined that accepting their conviction as true includes admitting that the photos are real, and that photos often dispute an inmate’s portrayal of the crime. Another frequently expressed idea was that the photos are the voices of those no longer with us.

It also was mentioned that the photos are admitted into evidence during trials and should still be allowed during parole hearings. One participant pointed out that if inmates were not allowed to present photos as mitigating evidence this would be a violation of their constitutional rights, and that disallowing it for advocates for victims is such violation.

The California Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (CDCR) website explains that anyone may submit a written statement to the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services. The site tells citizens that victims and family members speak last at hearings, and that statements “usually range from 5-15 minutes in length.” It also provides suggestions for things to include: how your life has changed as the result of the crime, counseling or medical care you needed and its duration and cost, duration of healing and medical treatment required, lost wages and inability to work, and any details of the crime and your injuries you think the board should know about.

On the page listing factors tending to show suitability or unsuitability for parole, “the … offense was committed in an especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel manner” was included. If the present rule is allowed to stand, this criteria will be restricted by the verbal skill of the victims’ advocates.

The Crier engaged in a brief chat with an operator on the CDCR website. They confirmed that photos of victims are allowed but, “If the picture has blood or picture of the incident you can’t send those in.” When asked who judges the suitability of photos, they responded, “As for who judges how gruesome a picture is, it will probably be the commissioners.”