Gary Lee Jackman, 1980s ‘Westport Rapist,’ up for parole Thursday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Gary Lee Jackman, known as the “Westport Rapist,” is now up for parole. His hearing is Thursday, Dec. 15.

At least one survivor of his crimes said that’s not appropriate.

Jackman is serving 11 life sentences at the Jefferson City Correctional Center in connection with several counts of rape and other crimes.

In 2005, DNA linked Jackman to five rape victims. He was already in prison for a robbery at a hotel in Liberty and molesting a clerk when the DNA evidence came to light.

In addition to the rapes he’s serving time for, Jackman has admitted to 25 more.

One of the women raped by Jackman has written to the Parole Board and shared her letter with KCTV5.

The woman, whom we’re identifying only as “Kathy”, shared the letter with KCTV5. Kathy said four of the five women that DNA linked to Jackman were actively involved in his prosecution.

“Prosecutors needed to cut a deal that would include allowing him parole. In exchange, he would tell everything he could remember. Every woman he raped. Every woman he degraded. Every woman who thought she would die. We four wanted that too. We agreed to it,” wrote Kathy. “And oh boy did he confess. He confessed to dozens of rapes in the Kansas City area.”

“Rape. It’s not a car wreck, a robbery, or any of those other horrible crimes that one does to another. The shame was attached then just as it is now. You don’t talk about it. Your family doesn’t talk about it. Your name is not published. Shame, shame, shame,” Kathy wrote. “There’s something about that shame that stays with you your whole life. It might be the worst part. It can beat you down.”

Kathy believes Jackman should remain in prison.

“Eleven life terms but up for parole. I am not good with that at all…I can guarantee he will re-offend, in whatever way he can, if he ever gets out of prison,” Kathy said in the letter. “Please remember. He stalked us and broke into our homes. He held a knife to our throats, raped and tried to humiliate, degrade and ruin us. All of us.”

Kathy also makes the point about a possible pregnancy in her letter to the parole board reminding them there was no Plan B when she was raped. Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill, was approved for sale in the United States in 1999.

Kathy additionally sent the following statement to KCTV5

“I will say this about the Gary Jackmans of the world. They degrade, humiliate, shame and threaten to kill you. They essentially take power and control of your absolute everything. You deal with police, hospital, which are all further invasions. So many telling you what to do. You lose your ability to feel like you’re in control of any of your own choices. Then it hits you, (Expletive), I could be pregnant. Today, that’d just be your bad luck, wouldn’t it? Women don’t have any choice now.”

Jackman is one of at least three men who are convicted of raping women in the Westport area in the 1980s. Women were warned to close their windows and lock their doors.

A man named Shy Bland was arrested and later convicted, but some survivors informed police their attacker was white and not a Black man.

Missouri Department of Corrections records revealed Bland is serving a life sentence at Crossroads Correctional in Cameron Missouri. He is now 66 years old.

Jackman’s arrest and plea deal would come later. Jackman, now 71 years old, is serving his life sentence at the Jefferson City Correctional Center.

Samuel Johnson was also convicted of five rapes in the Westport area. He was given a 30-year sentence and died in prison. Prosecutors had hoped to charge him with five more rapes before his death.