SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Board of Parole Hearings met July 19 and denied the release of an El Dorado County man convicted for the 1988 murder of his wife.

Albert Brooks shot his wife Roberta Woody twice in front of her 11-month-old daughter on April 23, 1988, in South Lake Tahoe, according to information from the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office. Brooks shot Woody because he saw she had a photograph of another man; Woody had previously filed a restraining order against Brooks. 

After the murder Brooks attempted to take an acquaintance hostage at a gas station; ha was eventually convinced by the acquaintance to leave. Brooks then went to the home of a female friend, pulled out the gun he had killed his wife with, threatened to kill her and take her hostage and then fondled her. The woman was able to get away and call the police. Brooks was arrested and ultimately pleaded guilty to second degree murder Nov. 15, 1988.

During the parole hearing, the board determined Brooks’ criminal history and the “callous and heinous nature of the crime” proved his release still posed an unreasonable risk for the safety of the community. Commissioners determined Brooks continues to objectify women and has not sufficiently changed his way of thinking, and that Brooks’ risk factors were “well above average.” Brooks will be denied another parole hearing for three years.