A man convicted of killing a store clerk in Saugus more than 60 years ago died last week while out on parole, a spokesman for the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security confirmed Sunday.
Norman Porter, 83, was paroled in 2022 after serving 42 years for the Saugus slaying and the killing of a Middlesex County Jail Master, a crime he committed while being detained for the murder in Saugus. Porter was under Parole supervision at the time of his death, the spokesman, Timothy McGuirk, said.
On Sept. 29, 1960, Porter and an accomplice conducted an armed robbery of the Robert Hall Clothing Store in Saugus, during which he shot and killed Jackie Pigott, a clerk at the store. Then, while being detained for Pigott’s murder, Porter shot and killed Middlesex County Jail Master David Robinson while escaping detention. He was sentenced to life for Robinson’s murder in 1961 and a consecutive life sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder for Pigott’s killing in 1962.
Porter later escaped custody in December 1985, when he walked away from the Norfolk Pre-Release Center, where he was being detained, and never returned. He then spent nearly 20 years on the run before Massachusetts authorities arrested him in Chicago, Illinois, in 2005.
During his time in Chicago, Porter assumed the name J.J. Jameson and established himself as a poet. He also worked as a handyman and lectured at a local church.
Porter unsuccessfully applied for parole numerous times before being granted his release in 2022. In granting his release, the Parole Board cited Porter’s “numerous severe medical conditions.”
The board ultimately determined Porter had been rehabilitated, taking into consideration his “institutional behavior, as well as his participation in available work, educational, and treatment programs during the period of his incarceration.”
