KAILUA-KONA — A South Kona man convicted of killing his sister-in-law more than a decade ago has been transferred back to Hawaii to serve out the remainder of his sentence.
James Fuller Abernethy is now incarcerated on Oahu at the Halawa Correctional Facility, Toni Schwartz, Department of Public Safety spokeswoman said Thursday. He was transferred recently from Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona where he’d been serving a 20-year sentence.
Schwartz said the man will continue to serve out his sentence at the medium security facility until he is either granted parole or reaches his release date of Aug. 6, 2028.
Abernethy’s last parole hearing set in January was postponed until March 18 because “the inmate needed to submit a parole plan for HPA (Hawaii Paroling Authority) to verify,” said Schwartz.
It will be his fifth time seeking parole since becoming eligible in 2015.
Previous attempts in June 2015, May 2016, December 2016 and December 2017 resulted in the board denying Abernethy parole, according to Schwartz. His last two denials were attributed to non-completion of all recommended programs.
Abernethy has been incarcerated since his arrest the day of the killing on Aug. 12, 2008. He is serving 20 years imprisonment for fatally stabbing 57-year-old Victoria Vickers, who was his sister-in-law, and injuring his wife, Linda Vickers, at their Kona Paradise home.
He was sentenced in June 2011 to concurrent sentences of up to 20 years for manslaughter and five years for assault for the 2008 incident. He had faced a second-degree murder charge, however, in a plea deal meted with prosecutors, Abernethy pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter. In exchange, he was allowed to begin seeking parole after serving five years.
Abernethy and his wife, Linda Vickers, had been separated but not were not divorced when Abernethy fatally stabbed his sister-in-law. Abernethy and Victoria Vickers had been arguing when Abernethy got a knife and stabbed the woman in the neck. He also stabbed Linda Vickers in the hand.
