Convicted Dad-Killer Will Not Be Paroled

A man who shot his father in the head during a disagreement over a car in rural Watsonville nearly 30 years ago waived his right to a parole hearing this week, the District Attorney's Office reported.

Alan Howard Hardwick, now 56, was convicted of second-degree murder in 1986.

Hardwick shot his father in the head at close range multiple times at a house at 645 Old Chittenden Rd., east of Watsonville, when his father would not allow him to borrow the car. Hardwick's sister discovered her father's body when she stopped by his house on her birthday, according to the DA's Office.

Hardwick was arrested hours later driving his father's car. The father's blood and brain matter was  on Hardwick's sweater, the DA's Office reported.

Hardwick was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison and was first eligible for parole in 1993. Since then, he has waived his parole hearings three times and was denied parole four times. He is serving his sentence at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo and next will be eligible for parole in 2013.

Hardwick continues to deny any responsibility for his father's murder, according to Assistant District Attorney Kristina Oven, who represented the DA's Office at Hardwick's hearing.