Lisa Sharon will never forget the August night in 1983 when she returned home to discover her sister’s murdered body. Although nearly four decades have passed, she remembers nearly every grisly detail of that scene. Much of what she recounted is too disturbing to print.
Pamela Sharon was bludgeoned to death in her Great Neck Estates home at just 21 years old. The weight of that trauma haunted every member of her family from that day forward.
“My father had a heart attack shortly after my sister was killed,” Sharon said. “My grandmother and my grandfather both had strokes shortly after my sister was killed, they ultimately died of that. Some of my relatives have been deeply troubled, one of them is too afraid to leave her house. She’s spent the last 37 years at home.”
Now, a little less than 37 years after Pamela Sharon’s murder, the Great Neck man convicted of killing her is set to walk free on parole. Lisa Sharon and those who knew her sister are horrified to think of what might come next.
“I felt so cheated by the unjust nature of letting a predator back out on the street knowing what he’s capable of doing to someone else,” Sharon said. “When I eventually read that he hurt somebody else, I can say ‘I told you so,’ but I will feel terrible for not having adequately warned society about what they’re facing.”
Bruce Haims was given a 25-to-life sentence for his actions that night, convicted of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and third-degree attempted rape. When his sentence was carried out, the judge who presided over the case called Haims a sadist and a threat to society that warranted the maximum possible sentence. That same judge also said he doubted prison would have any reforming effect on Haims’ personality.
Sharon kept up with Haims’ parole hearing for the last 37 years. Most recently, he was denied parole in 2018. Records of that hearing show the state’s parole board denied him on the grounds that his release “would not be compatible with the welfare of society.”
Neither the New York State Department of Corrections (DOC) nor the parole board that operated under it have commented to Sharon or the press on why their decision changed this time around. Sharon sent the board a letter in opposition to the release.
“I vigorously oppose parole because I am acutely aware of Bruce Haims’ potential to cause harm, even to kill again,” Sharon wrote. “When I read parole hearing transcripts, I can see that he has not changed over time in prison. His personality is the same as it was 40 years ago. He is not now, nor has he ever been remorseful.”
Documents from the DOC show Haims will be confined to Nassau County for his parole once he is released. With Haims set to come out, Sharon assumes her sister’s killer will wind up going back home.
“Why wouldn’t he come back to Great Neck?” Sharon said. “That’s where he grew up.”
