photo by: Mugshot courtesy of the Kansas Department of Corrections

James P. Ldulow is pictured with archive headlines form the Journal-World.

A man convicted 31 years ago for fatally shooting a Lawrence businessman and wounding a woman will be up for parole in January.

The man, James Patrick Ludlow III, 56, was convicted of second-degree murder in March 1993 in connection with the shooting death of Tracy Robbins, 32, a Lawrence contractor, on Nov. 22, 1992. He was also convicted of attempted first-degree murder for shooting Valerie Hartley as she fled the scene after Ludlow shot Robbins.

After a trial, Ludlow was sentenced to life in prison with the opportunity for parole after 15 years. He was sentenced to an additional 10 years in prison, to be served consecutively, for shooting Hartley. Ludlow was additionally sentenced to one to five years for a felony theft charge for stealing $600 in cash from Robbins’ home as he fled.

Ludlow testified at trial that he could not remember what happened the night of the shooting because he had consumed 18 shots of whiskey and a large beer.

Ludlow is eligible for parole on March 1, 2025. Public comment sessions will be held on Jan. 7 and Jan. 23. The sessions will be online via Zoom video conference. Interested parties who wish to speak to the parole board about Ludlow can register for the public comment sessions by visiting www.doc.ks.gov/prb/kansas-parole-board.

Ludlow is also serving sentences for burglary and aggravated escape from custody for convictions prior to his murder conviction.

Ludlow had attempted to get a new trial in 2005 after hiring an attorney, David J. Brown, who argued that there was evidence that another gun was fired the day of the shooting. Ludlow was convicted of shooting Robbins and Hartley using Robbins’ own 30.06 hunting rifle, but Brown said evidence showed that Hartley was shot using a smaller caliber gun. Ludlow’s plea for a new trial was ultimately denied, as the Journal-World reported.

Ludlow was also charged with criminal damage after he and another county jail inmate, Victor J. Smith, clogged a jail cell toilet and flushed it repeatedly until it began to flood. The inmates were then housed in the upper floor of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center. The water eventually leaked through the floor and down into the county clerk’s office, causing about $4,000 in damage.

Smith was later convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Smith is eligible for parole in April of 2026, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records.