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CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS &#8212; Now that Joann Curley is a free woman, the convicted killer apparently has returned to Luzerne County to start the next stage of her life.Curley was picked up by her former sister-in-law at the State Correctional Institute at Cambridge Springs, near Erie, just seconds after midnight Monday.With the wind blowing and snow flying, Curley, 53, walked out of the minimum-security prison for women and got into a truck for the long drive home in wintry conditions.Curley, formerly of Wilkes-Barre, has completed her 20-year sentence for murdering her husband, Bobby, by lacing his iced tea with rat poison. He died in September 1991, but it took five years for investigators to piece together the case, and they charged Joann in 1996. She pleaded guilty that year to third-degree murder, admitting she put the poison in her husband&#8217;s tea. She said she started poisoning him just two months after their August 1990 wedding.As Curley walked out of prison Monday, a Times Leader reporter shouted to her, asking if she had anything to say now that she was a free woman. Curley said nothing and entered the truck. A prison vehicle prohibited the Times Leader from getting close to Curley&#8217;s vehicle, which has South Dakota license plates and volunteers4veterans decals.According to sources who requested anonymity, Curley might reside in Plains Township or Bear Creek Township until she decides where she will live permanently. As a free woman, she is under no obligation to report her whereabouts to authorities.Nancy Verespy Curley, who was married to Bobby Curley&#8217;s late brother, John, is affiliated with volunteers4veterans. The truck was parked in front of Verespy Curley&#8217;s house Sunday afternoon.When contacted by the Times Leader via email last week, Verespy Curley responded: &#8220;I have no comment on the Joann Curley story, so if that is what you are contacting me about, I have nothing to say.&#8221;Verespy Curley lives across the street from the Curley family home. Bobby&#8217;s brother, David, still lives there.A Times Leader reporter and photographer waited on Perkins Street in Plains Township on Monday morning to see if the truck, with Joann Curley inside, would return. Since it wasn&#8217;t back by 11 a.m., sources said she might have gone to a relative&#8217;s home in Bear Creek.Sunday night in Cambridge Springs, at about 11:45, a prison guard carried a box to the vehicle that was waiting for Curley. The box presumably contained her personal effects.Then, just after midnight, with the temperature in the 20s, Curley &#8212; escorted by four corrections officers &#8212; walked out of the prison to the waiting truck.She was denied parole for the final time a year ago, forcing her to serve her full 20-year sentence. Bobby Curley&#8217;s family attended every Joann Curley parole-board hearing to fight against her early release.Last week, Bobby&#8217;s sister, Susan Curley-Grady, said she and her brother, David, felt a sense of accomplishment that they, along with their late mother, Mary, were able to keep Joann in prison for her entire sentence.&#8220;As far as we are concerned, she hasn&#8217;t paid her debt to society,&#8221; Curley-Grady said last week. &#8220;Bobby is never coming home &#8212; why should she?&#8221;Curley-Grady said she and David are resigned to the fact there was nothing more they could do to prevent Joann from being released. They said they feel the legal system has failed them.The Curley siblings said they had no idea where Joann Curley intends to live.&#8220;Who knows; she may return to the area,&#8221; Curley-Grady said last week. &#8220;It&#8217;s just not right that a confessed murderer is allowed to go free.&#8221;Joann Curley admitted she poisoned Bobby with thallium &#8212; a chemical element found in rat poison and insecticides &#8212; but she never expressed remorse for her actions.The state parole board said it denied Joann&#8217;s parole because she lacked remorse. Other reasons noted by the board included reports, evaluations and assessments that indicated her risk to the community, her refusal to accept responsibility for the offense, and the negative recommendation made by the prosecuting attorney.The Curley family &#8212; Susan, David and Mary &#8212; said over the years that on Sept. 27, 1991, Bobby was killed for being nothing more than a happy-go-lucky, hard-working, caring man. They said they felt they have been living with life sentences, while Joann appears to have received the lightest sentence of all.The Curley family fought to get legislation enacted to help families of violent-crime victims. Passed in June 2013, House Bill 492 allows those victims, or their representatives, to testify before the parole board prior to the board&#8217;s decision to release an offender from prison.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Joann Curley, wearing a tan coat and a head-covering, walks out of the State Correctional Institute at Cambridge Springs shortly after midnight on Monday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_image201612121161770-10.jpg</photo0><caption0>Joann Curley, wearing a tan coat and a head-covering, walks out of the State Correctional Institute at Cambridge Springs shortly after midnight on Monday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Shannon Roae | Meadville Tribune </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_Curley.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_Curley.jpg</photo1><caption1></caption1><photoCredit1>Shannon Roae | Meadville Tribune </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Convicted killerlikely to live locally</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Bill O&#8217;Boyleboboyle@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>CURLEY CASECHRONOLOGYHere is a chronology of the Robert Curley murder case.Aug. 16-20, 1991:Time period during which Curley ingested a large dose of thallium.Aug. 23, 1991:Curley&#8217;s last day of work at Morgan Electric in Luzerne.Aug. 24, 1991:Curley goes to a company clambake.Aug. 26, 1991:Curley is admitted to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.Aug. 29, 1991:Curley is discharged from the hospital.Sept. 7, 1991:Curley readmitted to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.Sept. 16, 1991:Curley transferred to Hershey Medical Center in Dauphin County.Sept. 23, 1991:Urine sample sent to Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. The report shows high cadmium level. Laboratory-grade thallium, such as that in Wilkes University&#8217;s chemistry lab, doesn&#8217;t contain cadmium. Commercial rat poison with thallium does.Sept. 27, 1991:Robert Curley dies at Hershey Medical Center.Oct. 2, 1991:Wilkes University officials present five bottles of thallium stored in the chemistry department renovated by Robert Curley. Officials deny any connection between Curley&#8217;s death and the thallium bottles.Oct. 4, 1991:Eight of Curley&#8217;s co-workers at Morgan Electric test negative for thallium.Oct. 19, 1991:Luzerne County Coroner Dr. George Hudock awaits autopsy results.Oct. 21, 1991:The investigation begins. The Luzerne County District Attorney&#8217;s Office and the Wilkes-Barre police meet. Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick rules out environmental poisoning in the death, saying that Curley ingested the thallium.Dec. 12, 1991:Robert Curley&#8217;s death is ruled a homicide. District Attorney Jerome Cohen claims there are several suspects, but an arrest is not imminent. Cohen details the toxicology results, saying Curley ingested between 1 and 5 grams of the poison during a short time. Cohen also declared there were several suspects. Jan. 6, 1992:District Attorney Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. announces the creation of a task force to investigate the homicide.Aug. 24, 1992:Members of the task force travel to Quantico, Va., to meet with FBI agents about the homicide investigation.Aug. 26, 1992:Sgt. Chester Zaremba reveals that the task force is focusing on three of Curley&#8217;s co-workers at Morgan Electric.Dec. 14, 1993:Environmental consultant William Sawyer says he believes Curley was fed thallium as he lay dying at Hershey Medical Center. He pursues an exhumation of the body to prove his claim. Olszewski later rebutted this charge after conferring with a forensic pathologist and a toxicologist.Jan. 11, 1994:Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Ann Lokuta orders the state police to release their investigative files. The police later turn over some of the files.May 9, 1994:A new team assembles to continue the investigation.Aug. 23, 1994:Robert Curley&#8217;s body is exhumed from Mount Olivet Cemetery in Kingston Township for further investigation. Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden joins the homicide investigation, taking more tissue samples from the body.Nov. 26, 1996:Sources say police will arrest Joann Curley in the poisoning death of her husband.Dec. 12, 1996:Joann Curley is arrested and charged with one count of first degree murder.July 17, 1997:Joann Curley pleads guilty to poisoning Bob Curley and is sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison.Dec. 12, 2016:Joann Curley is released from prison</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</shirttailMeta></div>

Convicted killer Joann Curley finishes 20-year sentence, apparently returns to NEPA