Killer Loses Freedom After War-Duty Lies

A convicted killer who was set free in part because of his claims of valor in the Vietnam War was taken into custody Wednesday after officials learned that he held only a desk job and was far from the fighting.

Joseph Yandle surrendered at his Rutland, Vt., apartment and was taken to a Massachusetts prison.

“It appears there was a massive fraud perpetrated here,” said acting Gov. Paul Cellucci, who vowed to have the 1995 commutation revoked.

Yandle, 49, was convicted of first-degree murder in the killing of Joseph Reppucci, manager of the Mystic Bottled Liquors store in Medford, during a robbery on June 20, 1972. Yandle drove the getaway car after his partner robbed the store and shot Reppucci. He was sentenced to life without parole.

After 23 years in prison, Yandle had won his freedom from then-Gov. William F. Weld after telling the nation--on CBS-TV’s “60 Minutes” and through other news outlets--that his crime was fueled by a heroin addiction he used to numb the nightmares brought on by his duty in Vietnam.

Yandle recently admitted that, although he is a veteran, he served as a Marine clerk in Okinawa, Japan, and never fought in Vietnam.

“I had to find a way to get someone to listen to my plea for commutation,” he told the Boston Globe. “The fact is, I just wanted to go home after 23 years in prison, and I had no other opportunity of ever getting home.”

The Globe and “60 Minutes” said they never checked with the military to verify the documents that Yandle now says he fabricated.

“Back at the time, these records were very, very good forgeries,” said Kevin Tedesco, “60 Minutes” spokesman.