Hingham Double Murderer Neo-Nazi Denied Parole

HINGHAM — A white supremacist convicted of murder for a brutal double homicide in Hingham's Bare Cove Park in 2005 has been denied parole.

The state's parole board voted unanimously on Feb. 9 to deny James Winquist's request for release, citing his continued membership in a neo-Nazi group.

Winquist was convicted on two counts of second degree murder for beating two homeless men, 46-year-old David Lyons and 44-year-old William Chrapan, to death with a spiked baseball bat.

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Winquist and alleged co-conspirator Eric Snow killed Lyons and Chrapan and sawed off one of Chrapan's hands as a trophy, according to court documents.

The documents note that the grisly double killing was part of a rite of passage for members of the neo-Nazi group "Brotherhood of Blood," to which Snow and Winquist belonged.

Snow was also charged for the murders, but took his own life in jail in 2012 before the trial began.

Winquist was ultimately convicted by a jury and sentenced to serve two concurrent life sentences.

Now 39 years old, Winquist's first parole board hearing took place in January.

Board members wrote in their Feb. 9 decision that Winquist "remains a validated member of a security threat group and has not begun the renunciation process."

He also has "substance abuse issues" and a "lengthy history of addiction."

The board also called his institutional adjustment "troubling," noting that his latest disciplinary report was in September 2022.

Parole board members unanimously concluded that Winquist has yet to be rehabilitated.

His next parole hearing will take place in January 2028.