Imprisoned Killer Sends Unsolicited Letters To Women
Posted by: "Texoma Coalition"
Tue Aug 8, 2006 4:56 am (PST)



Imprisoned Killer Sends Unsolicited Letters To Women

Waterbury, Vermont -- August 7, 2006

An inmate who raped and killed a child has agreed to stop sending unsolicited
letters to women he has never met.

At least one of the women is now demanding to know why convicts are permitted to
contact strangers.

Corrections officials say they do not want inmates writing letters to total
strangers. But they say there is little they can do to prevent inmates from
sending the letter that terrified a mother of three until they have a complaint.

"Out of the clear blue sky I got a letter from someone in Vermont Corrections
named Steve Buelow," explained a Chittenden County woman who received an
unsolicited letter from prison inmate Steven Buelow a month ago. She asked that
she not be identified.

In the letter Buelow writes that he selected her name and address randomly out
of the phonebook. He describes his appearance, some personal interests, and
explains that he needs a place to stay before he can be released from prison.

Two weeks after the letter arrived the woman was shocked after she learned more
about Steven Buelow from a friend who works in the criminal justice system.

"When I found out what he was in for I felt like we were all in danger,me and my
family," she explained.

She learned that Steven Buelow was in prison for raping and murdering his niece
when he was fifteen. He was paroled ten years ago, but he has been returned to
prison several times for minor infractions. He is currently back behind bars
again at the state prison in Newport but reportedly only because he needs to
secure a residence before he can be released on parole.

But that is no comfort to the woman who said she was "terrified" when she
learned the facts about Buelow.

"I wanted to move I wanted to move away from here,the safe little green
mountains.I locked all my doors and put my lights on. My children were away and
I was afraid. And I don't want to live like...." she said,overcome as she fought
back tears.

"Inmates are not allowed to send unsolicited harassing letters to any member of
the community," said Robert Kupek, who oversees prison security in Vermont.

He says inmates have postal rights established by law, but letters like Buelow's
are not permitted.

"If a Superintendent has cause to believe that what is going out of a facility
would bring harm to a staff person, a member of the public, or another inmate
that would cause that mail to be opened, reviewed and sent back to the inmate
that was sending it out," said Kupec.

Officials say it appears Buelow mailed at least 15 unsolicited letters to women
selected alphabetically from the Burlington/Middlebury phonebook, starting at
"a". When confronted by his caseworker, Buelow reportedly agreed to stop sending
the letters immediately.

Kupec says prison officials can only act on unsolicited letters if they know
about them. He wants anyone who receives unwanted mail from an inmate to contact
the corrections department, because with 1,600 prisoners its impossible to
monitor all their letters.

Brian Joyce - Channel 3 News







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