Thirty-four years after her brother was murdered in cold blood at the Red Door Deli in Central Bridge, Laura Nolan refuses to give up:
On August 10, she’ll appear before the Parole Board in Albany to argue again that Thomas Hoyer is a liar who shows no remorse and should spend the rest of his life behind bars.
“I’ve been doing this since 2002, for 16 years, sometimes twice a year, every time he’s up for parole,” Ms. Nolan said Friday in a Canajoharie coffee shop.
“Friends tell me I should let it go. For my own sake. But I can’t. I swore he’d never walk free until my brother walked free. I can’t fail. If I do, I’m failing my brother.”
Arthur Nolan of Carlisle was 22 when he was killed by a single shotgun shot to the chest on November 12, 1984.
It took police just three days to arrest two Montgomery County brothers—William Hoyer, then 19, of Canajoharie, and Thomas Hoyer, then 17, of Fort Plain.
The two skipped a trial, eventually pleading guilty in 1995 to assorted charges of second-degree murder, assault, and burglary. (See related story.)
William Hoyer was sentenced to 17 years to life—he was paroled about 10 years ago—and Thomas Hoyer is serving 23½ years to life, a sentence that includes later charges of attempted escape.
“I wasn’t happy, but I had to accept it,” Ms. Nolan said of William Hoyer’s parole, something made a little easier by knowing that, according to his testimony, it was his brother who pulled the trigger and the fact that William Hoyer showed remorse.
“I had to be able to put that aside to keep fighting,” she said. “To compartmentalize. I turned off my emotions years ago…”
But not so when it comes to Thomas Hoyer.
Every time he’s set to go before the Parole Board—sometimes it’s every six months, sometimes it’s closer to two years; this time it’s been 15 months--Ms. Nolan’s notified and with her sister, Dianna, makes the trip to Albany to argue against his release; their mom, Karen went too until she died in 2003.
“Here I go again, back to Albany,” Ms. Nolan said.
Ms. Nolan’s gotten good at making her case, scouring Thomas Hoyer’s confession, plea bargain transcripts, and appeals—whatever she can get her hands on.
“I’ve read it all,” she said, though she’s always refused to let anyone else in the family look at paperwork, ushering them out of the parole hearings “after they’ve done the emotion thing and it’s time for the facts.”
“I know what the last few seconds of Artie’s life were like.”
With the latest parole hearing set for August 10, Ms. Nolan has turned to Facebook and the “You Know You Grew Up in Cobleskill” group, where she’s asking people who remember “Artie” and the murder to post comments she can print out and take with her “…to show that people do not want murderers on our streets…especially if they won’t take responsibility for their actions. That just shows they are more likely to repeat offend.”
Ms. Nolan said Friday she’s already surprised by the response her post has gotten; everyone, it seems, remembers the murder.
[The Times-Journal will also accept letters for Ms. Nolan. Mail them to Times-Journal, PO 339, Cobleskill, NY 12043 or email them to Tournalnews@yahoo.com.]
Is there anything Thomas Hoyer can do to get Ms. Nolan to stop fighting against his release?
No.
“He’s never taken any responsibility…he’s lied about this for 34 years,” she said. “Remorse? Not likely. Not ever.”