When Matthew Edgar left the courtroom last Tuesday after formal sentencing, he was immediately taken to Huntsville for intake processing at the Byrd Unit of the Texas Department of Corrections. His information was added to the website for Texas Inmate Search on January 5th. 

The details provided finally answered some questions that family and close followers of the case had been asking. Is Edgar eligible for parole? and What was his official sentence date? Would it be January 28,2022 or the formal sentencing date of January 3, 2023. (From what we understand, time limits for appeal depend on sentencing date.) The answer to that  was listed under Offense History on the Inmate Search Website: 2022-01-28, meaning a year has passed. A simple google search of Texas Law and Procedure gives this information- "The deadline for filing a notice of appeal in Texas is within 30 days from the date of the case verdict being pronounced in open court. Usually a defense lawyer will file a notice of appeal immediately upon hearing the verdict and while still in the courtroom, rather than waiting." We were present in court upon the reading of the verdict in open court and no appeal was filed- at least not openly or to our knowledge.

In the question of parole, yes. Matthew Hoy Edgar, 26 years old, shows to have a parole eligibility date of 2052-05-31. That of course does not mean he will make that parole date, just that he is eligible. We are unsure how they calculate his eligibility date. At first we were told a third of his sentence must be served- but 2052 is 29 years, not 33.

As for other information available- Edgar is currently not allowed visitors and will be kept separate from other inmates at this time. All of that is standard operating procedure when a convicted murderer is admitted. Also available to us, his new ID photo. Long gone is the man with the mullet, instead a shaved inmate facing years of prison time replaces him.

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