Ex-boyfriend gets 18 years to life for killing new boyfriend

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Investigators process the murder scene (c) Mid-Hudson News
Walter Post, Jr., the suspect in the murder, was taken into custody in Pine Bush in January (c) Mid-Hudson News

KINGSTON – Walter Post, Jr., the man who shot and killed his former girlfriend’s new boyfriend, was sentenced in Ulster County Court on Friday to 18 years to life in state prison in the death of Michael Hankins on Vinegar Hill Road in the Ulster County portion of Pine Bush.

The killing took place in the early morning of January 11, 2022.

Visiting County Court Judge James Farrell of Sullivan County also granted the district attorney’s request for a protection order for the Hankins family for the rest of Post’s life, and an order for Post to pay $8,200 to the victim’s family and the Crime Victims Board for part of the funeral expenses.

Post pled guilty to shooting Hankins to death with a shotgun after Hankins got out of his car to check his tires, which Post had slashed.

Police investigate at the scene of the January murder. (c)  Video Mid-Hudson News

The two men had been friends before Post’s girlfriend left him for Hankins.
A joint impact statement from the victim’s family said, “nothing will ever fill the void left behind. Nothing can ever replace what was taken from us.”

The victim’s mother, Maria Hankins, said in her impact statement that the joy her son Michael brought to her life “was immeasurable,” and that joy was taken from her in such “a vile and horrific way” that she would never wish on an innocent mother. “I’ll never get to speak to him again. I’ll never be able to hear ‘I love you, ma, again’ from him. Maria recalled Michael telling her that “no one has the right to take someone else’s life” and that loved ones would suffer needlessly.

In response to requests by Post’s family that the judge place Post in a nearby prison – a decision which is not up to the court –  the DA’s office observed the insensitivity of that request by pointing out that the victim’s family would rather get on a plane to Timbuktu and travel thousands of miles to see and speak to the deceased again, than visit his gravestone and not be able to talk to him.

Post was given an opportunity to address the court in person, but he declined. His attorney, Thomas Melanson of Kingston, said the defendant accepted responsibility for his conduct, and requested the court to impose the promised sentence.

In imposing that sentence, Judge Farrell expressed the hope that the remorse shown by Post is genuine, otherwise he would be defining himself as a fraud. The court said that it would request the parole board to carefully consider, when Post becomes eligible for parole, whether the expression of remorse is and remains genuine throughout his sentence.

DA David Clegg praised the work by the State Police saying that their effort made it possible to bring this case to a relatively quick resolution that permitted the victim’s family to cherish their loved one and his memory without a dragged-out litigation. “It is horrible for any parent to have to bury their child under any circumstances, especially when the life is taken away so violently. We will always do our best to seek answers for victims and prosecute such crimes and hold offenders accountable.”

This case was investigated by members of the State Police at Ellenville and the Forensic Investigation Unit out of Middletown; they were assisted by local police agencies in the area.




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