Petition drive begins for Shoemaker murder accomplice

Last Update: 7/30 6:26 pm

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WICHITA, Kansas – She was taken away 19 years ago today. Now, one of the men responsible for Nancy Shoemaker’s murder is up for parole. But efforts are underway to keep him behind bars.

Donald Wacker received a 16-year to life sentence for his role in the crime. In October, a parole board will decide whether he should be set free. But Nancy Shoemaker’s family and friends are trying to prevent that from happening.

The Shoemakers now live in Florida where they’ve started a petition drive to keep Wacker in prison. Those efforts are also happening here as family and friends are collecting signatures, hoping to prevent what happened to Nancy from happening to another child.

It’s a face Wichitans won’t ever forget. Nineteen years ago today, nine-year-old Nancy Shoemaker was abducted, brutalized and murdered.

“She didn't have time to experience hardly anything and we didn't have time to experience her,” said Sherri Donovan, a Shoemaker family friend.

Now, on the anniversary of her kidnapping, Donovan is doing her part to make sure one of the men who took the little girl away stays behind bars.

“It's very important that we keep him there cause it could be your child next,” Donovan said.

That’s why she’s starting a petition drive against Donald Wacker’s release. He was driving the car on July 30, 1990 when his friend Doil Lane kidnapped, sexually assaulted and killed Nancy.

"He was following somebody and doing what they wanted to do,” said Bo Shoemaker, Nancy’s father. “He knew it wasn't right. He wouldn't stand up for Nancy. He wouldn't stand up for himself and say, ‘no, I don't want to do this, it's wrong.’"

Wacker has been in prison for 16 years, but is up for parole in October.

“We're all afraid he may get paroled this time, and we just can't have him out here,” Donovan said.

Also helping to gather signatures are Davis-Moore dealerships.

“What really hits home to me is it's the right thing to do,” said Dawson Grimsley, general manager of Davis-Moore. “That's it. It's the right thing to do.”

This is the second time Grimsley has placed petitions inside his showroom.

“I think the people of Wichita are going to speak out and you're going to see a lot of signatures on these petitions,” he said.

Grimsley and Donovan hope to collect as many as 500,000 signatures in an effort that’s being spread nationwide to make sure a dangerous criminal remains behind bars. It’s a comfort to Nancy’s father, but he knows nothing will bring back his little girl.

"You don't go a day without thinking about it,” he said. “Some days more than others.”

The petitions are available at Davis-Moore dealerships across Wichita. Those wishing to sign can also log on to the Parents of Murdered Children’s Web site to print one off and sign it. The signatures will be collected until October 19^th – the date of Donald Wacker’s parole hearing.

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