Maurice Clemmons, the man suspected in the killing of four police officers in Washington state, was once a resident of the Arkansas penal system. Several times, in fact. His sentence (of 95 years) was commuted by then-Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee thus allowing him to leave the penitentiary long before his 95 years were up.

Mr. Clemmons was hardly reformed. In Washington state he as recently arrested for third-degree assault of a police officer and second-degree rape of a child. For an unknown reason, he was able to post bail in Washington despite a whopping eight felony charges pending against him.

The Arkansas Times has extensive coverage of the matter along with a round-up of reporting from several national publications.

Mr. Huckabee issued this statement on the matter. Clemency and pardons dogged his 2008 presidential campaign. As Arkie blogger Jason Tolbert informed us, Mr. Huckabee’s unsure whether he’ll make another run in 2012. If it turns out that Mr. Clemmons is responsible for these killings, it’s going to be a tough political road ahead.

This is a polite way of saying that Mr. Huckabee (along with Washington governor Chris Gregoire) is going to have a lot of questions to answer in the coming days.

UPDATE: The New York Times is reporting that Mr. Clemmons has been shot by police and may have been killed. He’s been cornered in a Seattle home.

UPDATE II: Now he’s apparently escaped the home.

UPDATE III: The Arkansas Times digs into the past conviction record of Mr. Clemmons in Arkansas. In summary: five sentences, some concurrent, others consecutive, totaling 108 years.

UPDATE IV: The Seattle Times reviews parole documents that indicate Mr. Clemmons stated he had changed while he was in prison.

UPDATE V: Mr. Huckabee will appear on The O’Reilly Factor tonight.

UPDATE VII: The Daily Kos opens up a forum on the topic.

UPDATE VIII: According to The New York Times, Mr. Clemmons wasn’t in the house and is now “nowhere to be found.”