BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) - The first Montana resident convicted of deliberate homicide based on DNA evidence has been granted parole, state officials said.
The Montana Board of Pardons and Parole made the decision last week but a release date for 73-year-old Larry Moore hasn’t been scheduled yet, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported.
Moore has served 28 years of a 60-year sentence he received in 1992 for killing Gallatin County sheriff’s Deputy Brad Brisbin in 1990.
Moore, who was a West Yellowstone businessman, fabricated several stories about Brisbin’s disappearance, first saying the deputy told him he was “fed up,” was leaving to start a new life and drove off with a woman in a red sports car.
Moore later said Brisbin, 38, was despondent and was injured when the two struggled over a handgun in his camper. Moore said he went to get water and when he returned, Brisbin was gone.
Prosecutors said Moore scrubbed the inside of his camper with battery acid, but investigators still found a bloodied bullet and human tissue that matched Brisbin’s DNA. Prosecutors also detailed that while Moore was out on bail, he drove long distances to mail letters trying to show Brisbin was in good health.
Moore revealed where he’d buried Brisbin’s body in 1995 in exchange for the dismissal of a federal charge alleging he was conspiring to bomb the Montana State Prison warden’s office. He drew a map of where he used a backhoe to bury the body in a gravel pit near Hebgen Lake. He also told investigators where he buried the gun.
Soon after, Moore was moved to a prison in Oregon, where he has been incarcerated for the past 25 years.
Brisbin’s family opposed Moore’s request for parole, which he has been denied seven other times. In a statement, they said they did not believe he was rehabilitated and did not express remorse for his actions unless it benefited him, the newspaper reported.
Moore would have been eligible for release without supervision in January 2023, which informed the board’s decision to grant him parole last Thursday, chairwoman Annette Carter said.
“It’s important that inmates have some period of supervision once they are released, especially for those who have been in for so long,” said Carter, who was not on the three-member panel that considered Moore’s request.
Moore indicated at last week’s hearing that he planned to live in Kalispell and seek a part-time job.
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