On the December 10 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity led a discussion about an interview he conducted earlier in the program with Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in which they talked about Huckabee's role in the case of Wayne DuMond, an Arkansas man who committed murder after being paroled on a rape conviction. While discussing the interview, Fox News contributor Dick Morris asserted that “the reason everybody was focused on him [DuMond] is he was castrated while he was in prison by his fellow inmates by a knife.” But that was not “the reason everybody was focused on him” -- it is not the reason Huckabee gave for “focus[ing]” on DuMond, and it is not what Huckabee -- or news reports -- said happened. Huckabee himself wrote in his book, From Hope to Higher Ground: 12 STOPS to Restoring America's Greatness (Center Street, January 2007), that DuMond was castrated while awaiting trial -- not in prison, as Morris claimed. Huckabee wrote: “Prior to his trial, two men broke into his home, hog-tied him, and castrated him. They left him to bleed to death” (Page 93).

During the segment, Morris said:

MORRIS: There's one fact that, though, that he [Huckabee] didn't mention [during the interview] that he should have mentioned. And maybe good taste stopped him, but that's never stood in my way. That guy, Wayne DuMond, the reason everybody was focused on him is he was castrated while he was in prison by his fellow inmates by a knife. And the warden had the results of that in a formaldehyde jar on his desk. ... And everybody thought, “They're gonna kill this poor guy.” And they let him out of jail.

By contrast, investigative reporter Murray Waas wrote in a December 4 item at The Huffington Post that Huckabee “said on numerous other occasions that he felt sympathy for Dumond because Dumond was allegedly castrated while awaiting trial for raping Ashley Stevens,” a high school student. Waas also reported that subsequent evidence suggested that DuMond may have actually “engaged in an act of self-mutilation.” From the item:

Huckabee also wrote in “From Hope to Higher Ground” that he moved to act on Dumond's behalf out of compassion. He said on numerous other occasions that he felt sympathy for Dumond because Dumond was allegedly castrated while awaiting trial for raping Ashley Stevens. Dumond had claimed that unknown assailants wearing masks broke into his home, hogtied him, and then surgically removed his testicles.

Evidence has since come to light indicating that Dumond might not have been attacked but engaged in an act of self-mutilation. A physician who treated Dumond after his alleged attack told police, according to state police records, that Dumond's own wife asked him “if it was possible for Dumond to have inflicted the wound himself.” The Forest [sic] City Times Herald, which published a series of articles about the Dumond controversy in 1996, quoted experts on sexual predators as saying it was not uncommon for them to engage in acts of self-mutilation to garner sympathy or because they feel guilt for what they have done.

A Kansas City Star article from July 1, 2001, reported that DuMond's castration occurred “as he was out on bail, awaiting trial for the rape of Stevens.” The article also noted that “DuMond's testicles wound up in a jar displayed on the desk of Sheriff Coolidge Conlee,” not the warden of the prison where DuMond was housed, as Morris asserted during the show. From the article:

Indeed, the case of Wayne DuMond once symbolized not the perfidy of a president, but the horror of vigilante justice.

According to DuMond, the vigilantes came for him the afternoon of March 7, 1985, armed with a handgun, a razor blade and fishing wire. Two masked men broke into DuMond's home in Forrest City, Ark., hogtied him and forced him to perform oral sex on one of them. Then they castrated him with the fishing wire and the razor blade. DuMond's sons found him when they got home from school.

Today, some argue that DuMond, drunk and racked by guilt, castrated himself. Either way, DuMond's testicles wound up in a jar displayed on the desk of Sheriff Coolidge Conlee.

Less than two months later, DuMond's house was destroyed by fire. It all happened as he was out on bail, awaiting trial for the rape of Stevens.

As Media Matters for America documented, according to a 2002 Arkansas Times article by Waas, DuMond was paroled in 1997 after “Huckabee and a senior member of his staff exerted behind-the-scenes influence” on Arkansas' Post Prison Transfer Board. Following his release two years later, according to the article, DuMond moved first to DeWitt, Missouri, then to Smithville, a rural community outside of Kansas City, where, in 2003, he was convicted for the September 2000 rape and murder of Carol Shields. DuMond died in prison in 2005, while under investigation for the 2001 rape and murder of another woman, Sandra Andrasek.

During the segment, Hannity challenged Morris' assertion that “the warden had the results of that [the castration] in a formaldehyde jar on his desk” by noting that "[i]t was actually the sheriff, the local sheriff" who had kept DuMond's testicles. However, Hannity agreed with Morris' assertion that DuMond “was castrated while he was in prison by his fellow inmates,” saying, “Yes, he was.”

During a later segment, Fox News contributor and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich asserted, in reference to Huckabee and DuMond: “Now, I have to say what Dick Morris said -- which I didn't know anything about, and I'm not personally getting into here -- but you can imagine the circumstance, if you were the governor and you suddenly learned that this guy had been castrated by his federal -- fellow prisoners and was in danger of being killed?” Gingrich added: “You can see where ... as an honestly caring person, you'd be thinking to yourself, 'I don't want this guy to be killed in jail on my watch.' ” Again, neither Hannity nor guest co-host Kirsten Powers noted that according to Huckabee and other sources, DuMond was not “castrated by his ... fellow prisoners,” but rather that he was castrated before entering prison, while awaiting trial.

During the “Beat the Press” segment on the December 11 edition of MSNBC Live with Dan Abrams, Abrams played a video clip of Morris' and Gingrich's comments regarding DuMond and stated: "[O]ver on Fox News, the only thing that gets in the way of the facts is a good story that either helps Republicans or hurts Democrats." Abrams also asserted that Morris and Gingrich “literally invent[ed] this story” of DuMond's castration.

From the December 11 edition of MSNBC Live with Dan Abrams:

ABRAMS: It's time for tonight's “Beat the Press.” First up, over on Fox News, the only thing that gets in the way of the facts is a good story that either helps Republicans or hurts Democrats. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has been trying to explain why he supported the release of a convicted rapist from prison. And Fox News contributors Dick Morris and Newt Gingrich did their best last night to garner sympathy for Huckabee, literally inventing this story.

[begin video clip]

MORRIS: That guy, Wayne DuMond, the reason everybody was focused on him is he was castrated while he was in prison --

HANNITY: Yes, he was.

MORRIS: -- by his fellow inmates by a knife.

[video break]

GINGRICH: This guy had been castrated by his federal -- fellow prisoners and was in danger of being killed --*

[end video clip]

ABRAMS: Again, the problem -- it's not true! According to Wayne DuMond himself, he says he was castrated at his home by intruders before his rape trial. And some question whether he might have done it to himself to garner sympathy for his trial. They report, you decide.

*Gingrich's full remarks can be found below.

From the December 10 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

HANNITY: What'd you think of Huckabee?

MORRIS: Let me comment on Huckabee. When people get hit with a charge like that, what people are looking at, really, is how do they handle it? Do they say, “It depends on what the definition of 'is' is,” or, “I didn't inhale.” And with Huckabee handling it the way he did, which is frank and open and explaining what went on, I think, is pretty good.

There's one fact that, though, that he didn't mention that he should have mentioned. And maybe good taste stopped him, but that's never stood in my way. That guy, Wayne DuMond, the reason everybody was focused on him is he was castrated while he was in prison --

HANNITY: Yes, he was.

MORRIS: -- by his fellow inmates by a knife. And the warden had the results of that in a formaldehyde jar on his desk --

HANNITY: It was actually the sheriff, the local sheriff.

MORRIS: And everybody thought --

HANNITY: Yeah.

MORRIS: And everybody thought, “They're gonna kill this poor guy.” And they let him out of jail. And Huckabee made a mistake, OK, and the parole board did.

HANNITY: All right --

MORRIS: But the point is --

HANNITY: But here's the -- but wait a minute. Hang -- wait. But, Dick. Wait a minute. Let me interrupt you here. This is important. We saw what happened with Willie Horton, Michael Dukakis, and weekend furloughs here. Already I can tell you the opponents of Mike Huckabee, they've identified 11 murderers that were -- that had their sentenced commuted and somewhere between 700 and 1,000 commutations or pardons. Are they going to be able to make this a big campaign issue because you know right now they're threatened by these poll numbers.

[...]

POWERS: You gave a really great explanation for what's happened with Huckabee, but the reality is, is that he met with DuMond. I mean, he got these letters from people telling him --

HANNITY: He wrote the letter to DuMond, yeah.

POWERS: Yeah. But, I mean -- but he got -- I think that it's a bigger problem than maybe just the way that you've described it. I don't think that he -- you don't get the sense that you're getting the whole story. You have people from the parole board coming out and saying, “No, we were feeling pressure.”

He's sort of making it out to be, like, political tricks, but it just seems that there's a lot of information that's not quite adding up.

GINGRICH: Yeah, I think that's right. And my sense is that Governor Huckabee -- and this will be a real problem for him now, because he's so busy. I mean, imagine if you were in his shoes and suddenly you go from being dark horse to maybe co-front-runner with Mayor Giuliani. He's got to find the time to slow down and put together a clear and decisive answer that actually stands up under scrutiny.

Now, I have to say what Dick Morris said -- which I didn't know anything about, and I'm not personally getting into here -- but you can imagine the circumstance, if you were the governor and you suddenly learned that this guy had been castrated by his federal -- fellow prisoners and was in danger of being killed?

HANNITY: Well, there was more to the story. The sheriff literally took the testicles of this man, put it in formaldehyde, and placed it on a jar. And the media -- there is texture to this.

GINGRICH: You can see where -- you can see where, as an honestly caring person, you'd be thinking to yourself, “I don't want this guy to be killed in jail on my watch.” I mean, I'm not trying to defend him, I'm just saying there's something here that isn't organized, in a way, yet for Governor Huckabee to survive.