Polly Klaas' sisters show support for Gov. Newsom's decision to commute death sentences

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The group Clemency California and from murder victim's families are supporting the Governor Gavin Newsom in granting universal clemency. They're also urging the California Supreme Court to act quickly to approve his request. In a letter to the governor they also are asking to reallocate $150 million from death penalty costs to trauma recovery centers and flexible assistance for survivors.

Among the families were Polly Klaas' sisters. Klaas was kidnapped, raped and killed in 1993 in Petaluma, California when she was just 12 years old. Her killer, Richard Allen Davis, was sentenced to death. Polly's sister Jess Nichol said she initially wanted the death penalty for him.

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"It's taken many years of healing and reflection to come to the understanding that we oppose the death penalty. Killing a person in our name does not undo what was done to Polly and it is not something we want done in her memory. Some victims want an execution, others like our family don't. When victims are this divided the death penalty should not be the default answer," she said.

Klaas' other sister, Annie Nichol, also supported the governor's decision.

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"The man who killed Polly was sentenced to death more than 30 years ago. For decades that sentence has kept our family tethered to hearings, appeals, headlines and the possibility of another death. It did not give us closure it did not help us heal. Nothing will undo what happened to Polly but California can choose not to compound violence in her name or in the names of thousands of other victims.

In an interview with ABC7 Eyewitness News, Polly's father Marc Klaas, spoke out against Newsom's decision, saying the governor took this action without listening to Californians.

"He would make a decision that nobody wanted. That nobody asked for. That sticks a shiv in the back of all of the families of the murder victims," he said.

There are 382 death row inmates whose sentences would convert to life without parole if the California supreme court approves the governors decision.

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