Boston Herald27%
Massachusetts murderer who sexually assaulted, killed 17-year-old girl has been granted parole 46%
By Rick Sobey50%
7/24/2026, 10:07:38 AM
Keywords: Massachusetts, Parole, Parole Board, Massachusetts Parole Board, Murder, Killer, Framingham
BS Summary: This article contains 19 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, Appeal to Authority, and Framing Effect, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 24.6% saturation with 171 hits. Analysis detected 650 faulty-reasoning hits from 696 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 47.8% and a BS Rank of 46% (12,022 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 54.90% of the article peer group.
A Bay State murderer who sexually assaulted and killed a 17-year-old girl by smashing her head with a rock — pummeling her face beyond recognition — has been granted parole.
Damien Lockhart was 23 years old in 1996 when he murdered 17-year-old Kimberly Bolton in Framingham after she rejected him.
This decision comes as the Parole Board faces criticism for releasing scores of convicted murderers.
On the day of the slaying, Lockhart had suspected that his girlfriend was cheating on him.
In a fit of rage, he broke his girlfriend's television, ripped up her clothes, and smashed a mirror before leaving the house to drink, smoke crack, and try to cheat on her.
Lockhart then met Kimberly and convinced her to go to a secluded spot, where they kissed.
When he tried to touch her in a sexual way, she said no.
“One thing was supposed to lead to another and we were going to have sex,” Lockhart told the Massachusetts Parole Board.
“When that didn’t happen, my plan changed.
Raping her was how I was going to get my needs met.”
Kimberly fought him off, until he hit her in the head with a rock.
After she fell to the ground, he heard a groan.
Lockhart said he dragged her to a more secluded spot, and smashed her head seven times with a much larger rock, until she was dead.
Her body was later found by the edge of a railroad dirt access road known as “the Weeds.”
Lockhart had pummeled her face beyond recognition — requiring the use of dental records to confirm her identity.
“It was a particularly brutal thing,” then-Middlesex DA Thomas Reilly told the Herald after the murder in 1996.
A year later, Lockhart pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
He also pleaded guilty to attempted rape, and he was sentenced to a concurrent term of 9 to 12 years in prison.
Parole was denied after an initial hearing in 2013, and after review hearings in 2018, 2023 and 2025.
Then earlier this year, Lockhart appeared before the Parole Board for another review hearing.
Two of Lockhart's family members testified in support of parole, while three members of Kimberly's family and a Middlesex DA prosecutor testified against parole.
“Mr.
Lockhart has followed the Board's recommendations — since the last hearing he has completed Enhancing Empathy,” the Parole Board wrote in its decision.
“The Board considered Dr.
DiCataldo's evaluation in rendering this decision.
“Mr.
Lockhart uses a wheelchair due to spinal and hip issues,” the board added.
“Mr.
Lockhart has family and friend support and a re-entry plan to meet his needs.
The Board concludes that Damien Lockhart has demonstrated a level of rehabilitation that would make his release compatible with the welfare of society.”
During past parole hearings, Lockhart apologized to Kimberly's family.
He told the Parole Board that as a teen living in Dorchester, he was an alcoholic and addicted to crack cocaine.
He was drinking every day, as well as stealing cars and selling them for parts to support his crack cocaine habit.
He was expelled from school after he showed up drunk and assaulted another student.
Lockhart said he never met his father, and his mother was abusive and addicted to drugs.
He told the board that he moved to Framingham to live with an aunt to escape the drugs and violence of his Dorchester neighborhood, but soon found himself smoking crack again.
He was expelled from Framingham High School after assaulting a student.
He was previously charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (scissors) and assault with intent to maim, and he was convicted of arson.
The assault with intent to maim stemmed from an incident when he punched his aunt in the nose during a fight.
The arson conviction occurred when he filled a jar full of gasoline, set it on fire, and threw it at a family's house while they were home.
He believed that one of the occupants of the house had previously stabbed a friend of his.
Analysis
Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.