ATLANTA - The State Board of Pardons and Paroles has once again denied parole to Theodore Elting Ruger, Jr., 44, who is serving a life sentence for a 1989 murder in Hall County.
This is the second time the Board has denied Ruger parole since he was sentenced in October 1990.
On April 16, 1989, the body of Jesse Shrewsbury, 32, was discovered at a home on Clyde Peck Road in Hall County. The subsequent investigation revealed that Ruger and the victim had traveled from Beckley, West Virginia to Gainesville, Georgia in search of work. Although an exact motive was never established, officials believed that, while in Gainesville, Ruger shoot the victim twice. Shrewsbury was shot once in the neck and again behind the ear.
Ruger was convicted of murder and sentenced to a life sentence on October 2, 1990. He has now served more than fifteen years in prison.
Parole Board Vice Chairman Garland Hunt stated that parole was denied due to the circumstances of the crime. "This was a senseless murder. Fifteen years cannot begin to take away the pain that this death must have caused Mr. Shrewsbury's family," he said. Hunt also noted that Ruger had a prior conviction for burglary.
The Parole Board is more conservative toward violent criminals today than ever before. Of the 47,000 prisoners in Georgia prisons today, more than 6,000 are serving life sentences.
As this case demonstrates, eligibility for review in no way implies that parole will be granted. The Board does not plan to consider Ruger for parole again until May 2012.
Ruger is currently serving his life sentence in Coffee Correctional Facility in Nicholls, Georgia.
Monday
August 4th, 2025
5:05AM
