Why is the Utah prison system housing someone who robbed an Arkansas taco shop 33 years ago?

[NaturalHigh]

Invisible Man

Why is the Utah prison system housing someone who robbed an Arkansas taco shop 33 years ago?

For the past 15 years, Rolf Kaestel has sat behind bars in the Utah State Prison, invisible to those who put him there and a mystery of sorts to those who store him.

Ask if you can speak to Kaestel, and Utah officials say they have to ask the state of Arkansas for permission. Ask if Utah knows why they've been paying nearly $28,000 a year to keep him under lock and key, and they say they must consult the state of Arkansas.

And if you ask Arkansas why Kaestel, who is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for stealing $264 from a Bob's Taco Hut in Fort Smith, Ark., in 1981, why the man is in Utah, they'll say they can't quite recall.

Official records in Arkansas show that Kaestel, a 63-year-old with no living family members who hasn't had a single visitor since arriving in Utah in 1999, was transferred to the Beehive State under what's known as an "interstate compact" agreement because of "noncompliance with the Arkansas system." Explanations of what this means, and what Kaestel may have done to earn his noncompliance status, do not exist.


http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/invisible-man/Content?oid=2510963

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. Oh fer goodness sake

Let the guy out already.

Since 1981?

He robbed a fucking store. Jayzus.

We've all gone crazy.

[yeoman6987]

11. What did the judge and/or jury decide

That needs to be determined. Did he use all his appeals? Those questions need answered. If he went through the appeals process then the state may be right. Too many questions unknown to give a fair assessment.

[KamaAina]

2. Why is this man serving a life sentence without parole for stealing $264?

Particularly since his name sounds like that of a white man.

[NaturalHigh]

3. He had a criminal history.

Arkansas threw the book at him.

[KamaAina]

4. Oh, they have "three strikes", like California?

Figures. Out here, even law enforcement has turned against three strikes, because of the number of deadly gun battles officers have endured with suspects who have two strikes.

[NaturalHigh]

5. The article talks about the crime wave in Fort Smith at that time.

I really didn't know that Fort Smith ever had such a serious crime problem. Anyway, he drew a "tough on crime" prosecutor during a time when the local citizens were kind of in a hanging mood. With his criminal record, he got life without parole.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

6. TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY FOUR DOLLARS?

OMG.

[KamaAina]

7. Someone out here got a third strike for $10 worth of cheese!

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

8. Actually, with his past, I would have been hard on him

By "hard," I mean ten years. And rehabilitation. I consider robbery a serious crime.

[KamaAina]

9. Thank you.

Ten years. Not life without parole.

[NaturalHigh]

10. Oh yeah, definitely.

I wouldn't have wanted to let him off with a scolding and a slap on the wrist, but life without parole is ridiculous. Ten years? Yeah, I can see that, given his history.