Barry Beach, the Montana man who's spent 30 years in prison for a crime he says he didn’t commit, was denied clemency for the fourth and final time this week.
Beach was just 17 when he was sentenced to 100 years in prison for the 1979 murder of a teenage girl. But he maintains that he never committed the crime in question, and just wants justice to finally be served.
"After sitting in prison for 31 years or however long it's been . . .
I've lost my whole life," he told KAJ18.com this week. "I don’t even really care about the innocence part. I lost my life."
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The Montana Board of Parole and Pardons ruled Wednesday that "30 years in prison in Montana is not an extraordinary amount of time for the conviction of a brutal murder of a teenage girl."
"This was a difficult application to review due to a myriad of additional factors Beach included in his application, which we felt necessary to consider," Board chairman Mike McKee, one of the three-member panel that rejected the bid, said in a statement. "The board members carefully reviewed all the information and listened to public comment before reaching their decision."
Among the most compelling evidence in Beach's clemency bid was an 18-month span in 2011 when he was released by a judge who granted him a new trial. Beach spent that time touring the state speaking to student and church groups before the Montana Supreme Court overturned the judge's decision and sent him back behind bars.
Montana Governor Steve Bullock disagreed with the clemency rejection.
"I'm disappointed with the board’s decision, he said in a statement. "Since Mr. Beach committed his crime as a juvenile, served over 30 years, and conducted himself appropriately both inside and outside of prison, I believe there’s a strong argument for him to remain under state supervision as a parolee."
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