A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

Carlos Faulkner eligible for parole after serving 25 years for the killing of Lesley Briede in Fort Wright


Staff report

In September 1992, Lesley Briede, 26, was found dead in her home in Fort Wright. While her mother was at church, she was brutally beaten with a barbell and stabbed 39 times.

Carlos Faulkner was arrested and charged. In 1993, he pleaded guilty to charges of murder, first degree burglary and being a first-degree persistent felony offender. Because life without parole was not a sentencing option in Kentucky at the time, he received a 25-year prison sentence.

On November 29, he is eligible for parole — and that is drawing the attention of a number of people, including a retired police chief who was then an investigator at the crime scene.

Carlos Faulkner

The record shows Faulkner has been an active litigator from prison, though none of his appeals have been successful. In February of this year the Court of Appeals once again warned him against repeated, groundless appeals. As recently as August the Supreme Court denied his motion for discretionary review of the lower court’s ruling.

Lesley’s mother, Barbara Briede became a vocal and active advocate for victim’s rights after Faulkner’s sentencing. In 1998, as chapter president of the Kentuckians Voice for Crime Victims, she and other supporters won a victory when the Briede Bill passed in the state legislature.

That crime bill allows for a life sentence without parole, a 50 percent increase in victim compensation and a mandate that violent offenders serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. Before, offenders were only required to serve 50 percent of their sentences.

The “Briede Bill” could not be retroactively applied to Faulkner, however, and he is now eligible for parole.

“I remember it well as it took place not far from the home that I grew up in and that my parents still live in to this day,” says Dave Hatter, mayor of Fort Wright. “. . .he should never be released from prison.”

Retired Police Chief Daniel Krienest remembers the day well, too. He was an investigator on the case and sadly recalls the grisly scene.

“I want to say as strongly as possible that I am adamantly opposed to his release on parole,” says Krienest. “He planned and carried out his brutal attack on an innocent young woman who had made the mistake of being nice to him.

“Lesley was murdered in her own home on Fort Henry Drive in her own bedroom after Carlos stole a garage door opener from her mother’s car where she was attending a church service at St. Paul’s, up the street from their house. The investigation of this murder revealed several other women were also harassed, threatened and stalked by Carlos Faulkner and they were very afraid of him . . .it was the worst crime and crime scene that I worked in 38 years of law enforcement. 

“I believe Carlos Faulkner is a very real threat to the victim’s family, witnesses and the Fort Wright community if he would be released. He was sentenced to life in prison with a possibility of parole after 25 years, at that time there was not a sentence option in Kentucky for a life sentence without parole. . . Carlos Faulkner should serve a life sentence without parole for the brutal planned intentional murder of Lesly Briede. I encourage all Fort Wright Citizens to write the parole board and advocate for Carlos Faulkner serve out a life sentence.”
 
The Parole Board can be contacted via E-mail at pbvictimservices@ky.gov, via fax at 502-696-1967, or via mail at the following address:
 
Kentucky Parole Board
Division of Parole and Victim Services
P.O. Box 2400
Frankfort, Kentucky 40602
 
RE: Defendant: Faulkner, Carlos   DOC#115164
Indictment #  92-CR-614
County Of Conviction: Kenton
 

 


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5 Comments

  1. Anthony Oragami says:

    Rot where you are Carlos.

  2. diane keefner says:

    25 yrs. for someone’s life is not nearly long enough. He needs to stay in prison for another 25.

  3. Candace Brewer says:

    He had been at a gathering and left i was stunned and sickened to know i had once called him my friend. Never knowing what a very sick person he was. I hope he spends the rest of his life in a cage like the animal he is!!

  4. Denise says:

    It stunned me to know I actually considered this low life waste if air a friend back in high school and we all actually hung out many times so what a shock to find out you were close beside such an evil monster !! Rot where you belong Carlos and how dare you believe you deserve to walk free when you don’t even deserve the air and space you’ve been given !!!

  5. Tina Ballard says:

    I never knew I could hate someone as much as I hate you carlos and we can’t wait til it’s your time to die

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