Woman fights to keep husband’s killer behind bars
Nikki Goeser spoke Wednesday at the Tennessee Inmate Disciplinary Oversight Board asking them to revoke Wise’s good behavior credits.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A woman is fighting to keep her husband’s killer behind bars after she made her case to the newly created Tennessee Inmate Disciplinary Oversight Board.
Hank Wise, a man convicted of murder, could get out of prison early because of good behavior credits earned while in prison, but WSMV4 uncovered something else that was happening behind bars and Nikki Goeser says it is the opposite of good behavior.
“Ben was murdered right in front of me,” Goeser said.
The memory will haunt Goeser for the rest of her life. Her husband was shot and killed in a Brentwood karaoke bar, and the man who did it was a man obsessed.
Police charged Wise with first-degree murder. After his attorney argued insanity, the courts convicted him of second-degree murder.
He was sentenced to serve 23 years at 100% without the possibility of parole, but for Goeser, the trauma didn’t end there.
“It just makes me want to throw up,” Goeser said.
In 2020, WSMV4 discovered Wise was writing Goeser love letters from prison. Our reporting resulted in additional charges for Wise who pleaded guilty in federal court to stalking.
“That is absolutely not good behavior,” Goeser said.
But while serving, Wise has been earning good behavior credits. After his federal conviction, the Tennessee Department of Corrections took away some of them, but not all, and Wise’s state sentence is now set to end in May of 2030.
“At the minimum, he should serve the full 23-year sentence he was given,” Goeser said.
Goeser spoke Wednesday at the Tennessee Inmate Disciplinary Oversight Board asking them to revoke Wise’s good behavior credits.
She even showed them our original story.
Her plan is to fight here for her case. Then she plans to fight for others.
“It’s a flawed system and we need to do better for victims of violent crime,” Goeser said.
WSMV4 spoke to Wise’s attorney. She decided not to comment.
As for Wise’s good behavior credits, the board did not make a decision at Wednesday’s meeting, but after hearing from Goeser, multiple board members said they were ‘sorry the system failed her,’ and they promised to do everything they could to help.
That includes taking up the issue with TDOC.
In addition to federal charges for Wise, our reporting on this case also resulted in a new law that created life-long orders of protection for victims of violent crimes.
This legislative session, lawmakers are considering expanding that to where it would apply to victims of aggravated stalking, especially aggravated stalking and felony harassment.
It passed on the House floor unanimously and is now working its way through the Senate.
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