Father fumes at 'despicable' Joe Biden after he commutes sentence of rapist who killed his daughter and granddaughter

A Michigan father has hit out at President Joe Biden after he commuted the death sentence of the rapist who murdered his daughter and granddaughter. 

Marvin Gabrion, 71, had been awaiting his execution for the 1997 murder of Rachel Timmerman, 19, before his sentence was commuted to life without the possibility of parole.

Timmerman disappeared two days before she was set to testify against Gabrion for raping her.

Gabrion restrained the teen, covered her eyes and mouth with duct tape, before chaining her to cinderblocks and throwing her into a lake while she was still alive. 

Gabrion is also believed to have murdered Timmerman's 11-month-old daughter Shannon Verhage, whose body was never recovered. 

Timmerman's father Tim has since spoke with WoodTV after being informed of the commutation. 

He slammed the decision, saying: 'We thought the timing was despicable. We felt that President Biden could have waited until after the holidays.

'I think President Biden offered a Christmas gift to the perpetrators of murder, but he offered only pain to the victims of the families.'

He continued: ''You couldn't image someone that deserved it more than Mr Gabrion, he killed at least five people. Where's the justice in just giving him a prison bed to die comfortably in.' 

'We offered to trade the death penalty for information regarding my granddaughter, Gabrion was unwilling to tell us. That has always remained a hole in my heart.'

According to appeal records seen by DailyMail.com, Gabrion admitted to killing Shannon while in custody to fellow inmates. 

He is said to have told one inmate that he 'killed the baby because there was nowhere else to put it'.

The same records say that in the weeks prior to disappearing Rachel had expressed concerns that she believed Gabrion would kill her because of the rape case. 

She had made calls to the local sheriff's office on two occasions to report that she had seen him and that she wanted to leave a 'trail' should she disappear. 

Rachel had been expected to appear in court to testify on June 5 1997, with her family last seeing her on June 3. 

The move by Biden on Monday spared the lives of 37 of the 40 people currently on federal death row. 

Just three federal inmates are still facing execution, which includes the Boston Marathon bomber and hate crimes killers. 

'I´ve dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system,' Biden said in a statement obtained.

'Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole. 

'These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.'

Those not spared include Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh´s Tree of life Synagogue in 2018, the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S history.

Biden's latest move may shock an America in which 53 per cent of people support the death penalty, was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, who oversees federal prisons, is said to have recommended that the president commute all but a handful of terrorism and hate-crimes cases.

As well as Gabrion, other murderers, bank robbers, kidnappers and rapists will escape federal execution.

Those individuals include convicted murderers Brandon Basham and Chadrick Fulks, who kidnapped a woman after making a break from prison, convicted carjacker, and Marcivicci Barnette, who killed a man and his ex-girlfriend; another man, Anthony Battle, who killed a prison guard. 

In addition, a man who participated in a murder-for-hire plot on a Navy officer's life, and Thomas Sanders, who killed a 12-year-old girl, will be spared from execution. 

Several convicted bank robbers - who killed innocent victims during their crimes - are also getting clemency including Billie Allen and Norris Holder, Brandon Council and Daryl Lawrence.