Killer doctor serving life for murdering his father who sexually abused him could finally be free two years after he was pardoned over rare medical condition

An ex-North Carolina doctor convicted of murdering his sexually abusive father may finally be released from prison, two years after being pardoned for a rare disease.

Vince Gilmer, 61, was granted a conditional pardon in January 2022 The medical mystery attracted widespread attention after it was documented in a popular radio program and a book.

But because of the strict conditions attached to the pardon and what his advocates describe as procrastination or indifference toward government officials and health care institutions, he remains behind bars in a southwestern part of the country. Virginia prison because his health deteriorated.

Gilmer has Huntington’s disease, a rare, devastating and incurable condition that affects the brain and impairs patients’ cognition and physical abilities.

His diagnosis – unraveled after his conviction by the doctor who took over his practice and strangely shares his last name – formed the basis of the pardon, which was granted after many years of advocacy.

Vince Gilmer admitted to killing his father, whom he accused at trial of committing horrific acts of sexual abuse against him as a child, and was given a life sentence.

While no one claims Gilmer is innocent, his supporters argue that the outcome of his 2005 trial, in which he insisted on representing himself and jurors rejected his insanity defense, likely would have been different if he had been properly diagnosed at the time.

They argued that mercy, in the form of admission to a treatment center, was the most appropriate outcome.

With the help of a North Carolina lawmaker, Gilmer’s successor and now attorney and legal guardian, Dr. Benjamin Gilmer, found a hospital willing to accept Vince Gilmer as a long-term patient, in accordance with the terms of the pardon.

He received confirmation from Virginia officials that Vince Gilmer will be released Thursday, he said in an interview.

‘It’s such a beautiful moment. But at the same time, we’re all stressed and anxious because, you know, you never know what could happen between… the jail door,” Benjamin Gilmer said.

The Virginia Department of Corrections did not directly answer when Gilmer would be released, but confirmed in a written statement that it was working through “logistics” to set a release date “as soon as possible.”

Benjamin Gilmer, who granted a series of interviews to discuss the case, recently visited the Marion Correctional Treatment Center where Vince Gilmer is in custody, to share the news. The two men are not related.

“He had a moment of joy and expressed it as best he could. But it was a bit of an anticlimax in a way because he’s in such bad shape,” Benjamin Gilmer said.

Vince Gilmer is in the “terminal stages” of his disease, confined to a wheelchair and nearly bedridden, struggling to eat, losing his cognitive skills and at high risk for aspiration pneumonia, Benjamin Gilmer said.

The hospital environment will provide more robust treatment and allow Vince Gilmer to “experience a little life and dignity,” including more regular visits from his mother, said Benjamin Gilmer, who arranged safe transportation for the transfer.

“I’m praying that I can get there and just hold him again,” said Vince Gilmer’s 80-year-old mother, Gloria Hitt.

Benjamin Gilmer wrote in his book ‘The Other Dr. Gilmer” that he became fascinated with Vince Gilmer’s case after joining the family medicine clinic outside Asheville where Vince Gilmer worked.

Patients and former colleagues described Vince Gilmer as a beloved member of the community and a dedicated physician who made house calls, remembered birthdays and cared for patients regardless of their ability to pay.

Benjamin Gilmer eventually wrote a letter to Vince Gilmer and began an effort to balance his reputation with the heinous crime of which he had been convicted.

His search was documented by a journalist Sarah Koeniglater the host of the extremely popular podcast ‘Serial’, in an episode of ‘This American Life’ titled ‘Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde.”

Vince Gilmer’s father, Dalton Gilmer, was found dead in southwestern Virginia near the North Carolina border in 2004, shortly after Vince Gilmer removed him from a psychiatric hospital.

He had been strangled and his fingers had been cut off. Vince Gilmer claimed during the trial that his father made sexual contact with him and he snapped at a time when he also heard voices, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch Previously reportedciting transcripts of the trial.

Two prosecutors involved in the trial could not be reached for comment. The judge in charge said through a spokeswoman for the company where he now works that he cannot comment on previous cases.

Benjamin Gilmer’s detective work eventually led to the diagnosis of Huntington’s, confirmed by laboratory work. He began contacting lawyers and other advocates who would devise a strategy to free Vince Gilmer from prison by filing a pardon petition.

Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, denied the request. Then so did Governor Ralph Northam, his Democratic successor.

But Northam, a physician, reconsidered and granted a conditional pardon on one of his last days in office.

The conditions said Vince Gilmer should be committed to a medical or psychiatric facility, remain on probation and parole as directed by the Virginia Parole Board and provide his own “safe” transportation.

Efforts were made to find Vince Gilmer an internship. Benjamin Gilmer wrote that he unsuccessfully petitioned every public psychiatric hospital in Virginia, as well as appropriate public mental health facilities in North Carolina, “but they required Vince to be at a hospital in Virginia first for a state-to-state transfer stands. Vince was stuck in a bizarre no man’s land,” he wrote.

“Nobody cares if a man dies in their prison,” Benjamin Gilmer said in an interview before receiving confirmation of a release date, adding that many private institutions were also reluctant to take in a convicted murderer.

The efforts of Senator Julie Mayfield of North Carolina led to a breakthrough. Mayfield said in an interview that she found a hospital in western North Carolina that had agreed to accept Vince Gilmer in mid-2023.

If all goes according to plan, a welcome brigade along with a film crew working on a documentary about Vince Gilmer’s story will meet him Thursday in Marion, with a special meal in hand: a Coke, Twinkies and a Whopper.

Benjamin Gilmer said his more than a decade of advocacy for Vince Gilmer has convinced him that the United States is incarcerating far too many mentally ill individuals in a manner that is “incompatible with ethics, humanity, or the Hippocratic Oath .’

“We haven’t had any confidence in Virginia’s surveillance system in recent years,” he said. “We’re not going to celebrate until Thursday.”