John Foreman, Father Of Murdered Son, Jason, Vows Revenge

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EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - The father of a 5-year-old boy brutally murdered more than 30 years ago is publicly vowing to kill his son's killer -- if that convicted murderer gets released from prison early.

John Foreman made the stunning proclamation on WPRO-AM's John DePetro Show Monday morning.

"I do intend, if this man is released anywhere in my vicinity, or if I can find him after the fact, I do intend to kill this man," he said.

Foreman's son Jason was stabbed and killed by their South Kingstown neighbor Michael Woodmansee in 1975. The boy's shellacked bones and skull were found in Woodmansee's home seven years later, while police were investigating an attack on a local paper boy.

While Woodmansee got a 40-year sentence, a plea bargain agreement would let Woodmansee be released for good behavior behind bars.

In a lengthy live radio interview, Foreman revealed many gruesome details of the murder that were never revealed at Woodmansee's trial in 1983, because of the plea bargain agreement and a judge's order to seal all the evidence.

•Listen to the full 20-minute-plus interview
Many of those details remain in a diary Woodmansee kept. Foreman said in the interview he wants access to that diary.

The interview came following a Providence Journal story over the weekend looking ahead to Woodmansee's possible release in August.

Foreman called Woodmansee a monster -- and a cannibal, who ate his son's flesh.

The state prosecutor, Susan McGuirl, who is currently a Rhode Island Superior Court judge, told the court at that time about Woodmansee's admission.

"He stated at the time he killed Jason he did intend to kill him. He stated that he did not have any particular reason for killing Jason -- that anyone that happened to be there at the time, he would have killed."

Foreman said he regrets consenting to the plea bargain agreement.

"I put it all behind me... and now, you know, 12 years off for good behavior, come on. It was a shame he only got 40 years to begin with, he should have got a life sentence," he told DePetro. "But stupidly, I allowed the plea bargain to go so I wouldn't have to put up with the agony of hearing all the events at that time, I didn't want to hear 'em."

The office of Attorney General Peter Kilmartin released a statement Monday saying he's urging the Department of Corrections to consider every possible avenue to keep Woodmansee behind bars.

I can't imagine being faced with something like that. I hope someone reaches out to him to help him deal with this.

Michael Woodmansee was a sixteen-year-old junior at South Kingstown High School in the state of Rhode Island in 1975 when he murdered Jason Foreman, a five-year-old child who lived nearby, in South Kingstown, Rhode Island.
He was not convicted of the murder until 1983, when he confessed to the crime upon questioning about the attempted strangulation of another child. He was a large boy and preferred to spend most of his time alone. He lived with his father Franklin Woodmansee, a police reservist, on Schaeffer Street in the village of Peacedale

In May 1975, on the day Jason disappeared, he had been out playing with his older brother and three other boys. After announcing to his playmates that he was going home he ran toward the fire station located at the bottom of the hill. The street he lived on was not more than 30 yards from there, however, to make it to his house he would have to pass by the house where Woodmansee lived. Jason's mother, Joice Foreman, last heard her sons laughter through the open window, at approximately 3:30 in the afternoon, he never made it home. It was her 25th birthday.

Jason Foreman's murder went unsolved until Woodmansee was apprehended in April 1982 for a different crime. He had lured a 14-year-old paperboy (surname Sherman) into his house, and plied him with alcohol. After an unsuccessful attempt to strangle him, the boy made it home and told his father of the incident who became enraged, confronted Woodmansee, and then punched him. Woodmansee's father saw the police leaving from the Sherman home, waved the officer over, and complained to the police about the attack upon his son. The officer requested that they both come down to the police station to talk about the incident. During the interrogation with Woodmansee regarding the alleged attack upon the Sherman boy, the officers had a hunch that he might know something about the disappearance of Jason Foreman. Slowly they steered the interrogation that way and ultimately Woodmansee confessed to killing Jason Foreman. He told the police that when they searched his room they would find a journal but that everything in the journal was purely fiction. When police searched Woodmansee's room, they not only found the journal but also found Foreman's skull and several other bones on his dresser. The bones had been picked clean of all flesh and shellacked.

Woodmansee pleaded guilty to second degree murder in 1983, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison as a result of a plea bargain. The prosecutor negotiated the plea bargain to avoid the gruesome facts about the murder being exposed during the trial.

Woodmansee was released from prison on September 11, 2011, after having served 28 years of the 40 year sentence. The "Good Time Law" in Rhode Island allows a prisoner to earn as much as 10 days off his sentence, every month, for good behavior. In the 28 years that Woodmansee was incarcerated he was able to earn back 12 years under the provision. John Foreman, Jason's father, stated that he intends to murder Woodmansee after he is released.

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"Good Time Law" my ass!! He should not have been let out!