The infamous police murderer who mercilessly executed NYPD officer Eddie Byrne in 1988 represents “the worst and worst” and should not be parole, argued by a top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn.
John Durham, a US lawyer for the Eastern District of New York, sent a passionate letter to members of the New York State Parole Board this week.
“Simply put, McClary’s crimes represent “the worst and worst,” Durham writes frankly.
McClary shot five times in the head on February 26, 1988, when the infamous gang banger and three accomplices ambushed the rookie police officer, 22.
Byrne, 22, was guarding the South Jamaican home of witnesses preparing testimony of Howard Howard “Puppy” Mason.
Mason was already locked up when he instructed McClary to commit the murder after being “disbanded” by the NYPD and was angry that he was jailed on charges of possession of a gun, Durham said.
The witness’s house was also bombed.
McClary is serving a life sentence of 25 years.
Mason and three other accomplices faced a prison sentence linked to a crime, with only one person taking part in parole in 2023.
In a letter to the Parole Board, Durham stated that the argument made by McClary for his freedom was “selfish and hollow.”
McClary claims he has already served the minimum of 25 years or more for more than 12 years, and previously the parole board cared more about the severity of the crime than his alleged rehabilitation, Durham wrote.
“To alleviate the passing of time, completion of prison programs, and the claims of mere passage of good behavior expected of all inmates is a grossly insufficient foundation to justify parole, especially when it corresponds to McClary’s actions, Durham wrote.
“That McClary made this murder for the most de-dropping reasons to revenge the correct arrest of the unlawful drug Kingpin – he is strongly armed against recognizing his request for release.”
Durham further claimed that McClary, now 59, “never demonstrated genuine regret” about Byrne’s murder.
“The impact of his murder continues far beyond what McClary has served through both the generations of Officer Byrne’s family and the NYPD,” the prosecutor said.
The board has released 43 police killers after former government official Andrew Cuomo, who is currently running for mayor, changed guidelines for release, and with the support of liberal activists since 2017, demanded that members consider prisoners more heavily “progress” and more heavily consider risks to society.
Byrne’s brother Kenneth said earlier this month that McClary deserves to suffer in prison.
“I don’t care what he does in prison,” Byrne said.
The murderer is currently at Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo, but his greatest punishment is life sentence.
His parole hearing is not set to stone, but could come later this month.
The Parole Board declined to comment when the Post arrived on Thursday.
