Binghamton Man Who Killed Cheri Lindsey Will Remain in Prison

76-year-old James Wales - who was convicted of murder in the 1984 killing of a Binghamton girl - has again been denied parole.

Wales was found guilty of three felony charges for sexually assaulting and killing 12-year-old Cheri Lindsey in his home on the city's North Side. He was sentenced to 33 years to life after he was found guilty of two counts of murder and one count of rape.

The Broome County District Attorney's Office on Friday afternoon announced the state parole board had rejected a bid by Wales to be released. It was the fifth time he has been denied parole.

Cheri Lindsey vanished on March 26, 1984. She had been collecting payment for The Evening Press on a newspaper route near her home.

Her disappearance prompted a massive search which culminated in the discovery of her body in a fruit cellar of the Wales home on Sturges Street.

Wales had told investigators he had choked Cheri before hitting her in the head with a table leg and tying her up. He said he had sexually assaulted her before killing her.

Wales was first eligible for parole in 2017. The parole board turned down his request for freedom then, as it has every two years since then.

Before their deaths, Cheri's parents - David and Jean Lindsey - rallied Binghamton-area residents to join them in opposing parole for Wales. He is being held in Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum security state prison in Erie County.

The house where Cheri Lindsey was killed was demolished in July 2020. Her parents watched at the Sturges Street site as the abandoned structure was torn down.

LISTEN: David Lindsey discussed the planned demolition of the house where his daughter died during a WNBF Radio interview on January 3, 2020.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or call (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.