Malcolm X Killer Gains Parole

Thomas Hagan, 69, had been on work release
Posted Apr 27, 2010 1:23 PM CDT
Malcolm X Killer Gains Parole
A New York policeman grips the hands of 22-year-old Thomas Hagan in the emergency room of Jewish hospital in New York, shortly after the assassination of Malcolm X, Feb. 21, 1965.   (AP Photo, File)

The last of the men convicted in Malcolm X's assassination has been paroled after 44 years in prison. Thomas Hagan, 69, hadn't been spending a ton of time in prison anyway; in 1992 he entered a full-time work-release program that let him spend 5 days a week at home with his family in Brooklyn and the other 2 in a minimum-security facility. But at 11am today he left even that vestige of incarceration behind, CNN reports.

Hagan was the only man to confess to his role the 1965 killing. Two others were convicted as well, but they were both released in the 1980s. “I have deep regrets,” he told the parole board. “I don't think it ever should have happened.” He told the parole board he intended to become a substance abuse counselor and keep his current job—which, according to a 2008 interview, is at a fast-food restaurant. (More Malcolm X stories.)

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