SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – An East County man who now admits he tried to kill his wife with a pipe bomb nearly 15 years ago was denied parole for the second time on Tuesday.
During a three-hour virtual parole hearing, Larry Hoagland expressed remorse for detonating a pipe bomb in his wife’s truck, which was parked outside of the Rancho San Diego day care center where she worked in 2010.
Connie Smith suffered serious injuries in the blast and endured seven surgeries during her recovery. In one procedure, doctors inserted a rod in her right leg.
Prosecutors said Hoagland had been living a double life and was carrying on a cross-country affair.
Hoagland was sentenced in 2012 to life in prison without the possibility of parole, but he maintained his innocence.
However, that has since changed.
In Tuesday’s hearing, Hoagland -- now 63 years old and imprisoned for the past 14 years -- admitted he was a “cold-blooded, cold-hearted killer” who was “driven by his selfish desires” and tried to kill his wife nine times, including by poisoning her Jamba Juice with eyedrops.
Hoagland’s lawyers pointed out he was a model prisoner and made strides in self-awareness and insight.
“I’m not the same man,” Hoagland said.
At the hearing, daughter Jaclyn Reagan said her father had “no true empathy or understanding behind his words,” adding, “I believe he remains angry and vengeful. If he’s released, he will try to kill my mother.”
“I am genuinely afraid he will try to harm my mother. I’m afraid for anyone that he may come into contact with. He is skilled at manipulation. His ability to hide his true intentions makes him a risk to anyone he comes into contact with,” son Jonathan Hoagland said.
Smith spoke out against parole for her former husband, saying, “Divorce was never his plan, murder was.”
In response to Hoagland’s admissions, she said, “He has not changed. This is not accountability; this is manipulation … underneath the surface, that same dangerous man remains.”
Hoagland’s next opportunity for a parole hearing is in three years, but he can petition for an earlier date.
Hoagland is serving his prison term at a state correctional facility in Central California.
