The family of murder victim Hellen Hanks recently discovered that a letter written to the state Parole Board in 2006 by E. Keller Wilcox contains a statement of confession for the death of Hanks on August 31, 1972.

Wilcox has been serving a life sentence for the murder since his conviction, and has been repeatedly denied parole during his incarceration. Friends and relatives of Hellen Hanks were surprised to receive notification of Wilcox’s upcoming parole hearing years ahead of schedule. Confused family members began to contact the Office of Victim Services in search of answers. A conversation about Wilcox being up for parole although he had never admitted guilt or shown remorse led to further speculation by one family member.

Last week, a relative of Hanks requested information from the Office of Victim Services under the Open Records Act that involved any correspondence Wilcox may have sent to the Parole Board regarding “any admission to his original crime, any acceptance of responsibility for his crime, or any expression of remorse.” The office attached the following letter in its response to the relative:

“Dear Members of the Board:

I want to acknowledge and accept responsibility for the death of Helen (Hellen) Hanks on August 31, 1972. Ms. Hanks was my father’s secretary. We got into an argument and I lost my temper. I did not mean to hurt her. There was never a sexual assault or anything like that. I was scared and told my dad what happened. I was working for my dad at that time.”

“I was not present when Mrs. Hanks’ body was buried in the field.”

“I am deeply regretful for the pain and suffering we have caused Mrs. Hanks’ family as a result of my actions on that afternoon. All the many years since that fateful afternoon I have tried to avoid bringing shame and embarrassment to my family by not admitting my responsibility. I am now 55 years old. It has been 34 years since Mrs. Hanks’ death. Now all my family members are deceased. Had I accepted the prosecutor’s offer and admitted my guilt I would have been released from confinement many, many years ago.”

“I have been a model prisoner during my 23 plus years of confinement. I have been a trustee/firefighter for the last 12 years. I want to be a productive citizen, possibly a firefighter if I am released from confinement.”

“Thank you for your time considering this matter.”

“E. Keller Wilcox”

Relatives were appalled and even more confused than before when the letter surfaced last week.

“The Parole Board has always kept us up-to-date on any changes in the case, but this is the first I have ever heard about Wilcox admitting he did it,” said Hank’s brother, Steve Griffin.

Griffin learned about the letter after it was forwarded by e-mail to former District Attorney H. Lamar Cole, who prosecuted the case against Wilcox in 1982. Although Griffin and Cole acknowledge that the letter includes Wilcox’s admission of involvement in Hanks’ death, they contend that the letter also contains lies and excludes several very important details about the incident.