Outside Group Highlights DuMond Case In New Spot

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Mike Huckabee

(AP)

An ad airing tonight in South Carolina features the mother of a woman who was raped and murdered by Wayne DuMond, a man whose crimes have become a part of the presidential campaign of Mike Huckabee – for all the wrong reasons.

For those still unfamiliar with the name, and the story, DuMond was convicted and imprisoned in Arkansas in 1985 for the rape of a 17-year old girl. The case drew attention from some quarters who felt that DuMond had been wrongly accused. When he became governor of the state, Huckabee expressed sympathy for DuMond.

He met with members of the state parole board and, according to its members, advocated for DuMond's release. Huckabee denies he pressured the board and points out that as governor, he had only the power to provide clemency, not grant early paroles.

But DuMond was released, and after moving to Missouri, was convicted of raping and murdering Carol Sue Shields.

In the ad, Shields' mother, Lois Davidson, blames Huckabee for DuMond's release and the death of her daughter. "If not for Mike Huckabee, Wayne DuMond would have been in prison, and Carol Sue would be with us," she says.

The spot was conceived by Keith Emis, an Arkansas resident who set up a 527 organization called Victims Voice to raise money to get it on the air.

Asked why he produced the ad, which is here, Emis told CBSNews.com, "Carol Sue Shields was raped and murdered because of the actions Mike Huckabee took as the governor of Arkansas, and the voters of this country need to know that." He said he is not supporting any candidate in the presidential race.

Emis said he wrote the script for the spot himself and had a friend help him film and edit it. He said he also hired an attorney to help him "follow all of the Byzantine regulations concerning 527s."

Emis said he has already purchased air time to run the ad again in the future, though he declined to go into specifics. He also declined to say who had contributed funds to his effort to put it on the air.

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by giantrobot2 January 11, 2008 8:55 AM EST: The person/people who paid for this ad just put their foot in their mouth. He said "It''s about spreading the word on his record on crime and punishment."

Oh yeah.. so how about you telling us the fact that Huckabee is the most toughest on execution?

Huckabee is tough on crime, he had to sign many execution orders. Some 16 or so, that''s way more than any other candidate has done.

Plus Huckabee did his job as a Governor and reviewed thousand of cases in detail to make sure no one was wrongly punished. It''s easy as a Governor to just say no to everyone like some other Governor''s has, but instead he did his job and reviewed everycase in detail.

It''s obvious that these people want to distort the truth about his record. Taking one sample size out of thousands is not the correct way to draw conclusions on the population.

That''s like saying if Florida was over 100 degree''s on the one day you sampled it then you conclude it is always over 100 degree''s. That is very bad decision process.

These people who paid for this TV ad really put their foot in their mouth on this one. The American people are not stupid. Don''t try to pull this fast one over the American people. They know you are a con-artist trying to distort the truth to get something. Shame on you!; Reply to this comment