BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) - A parole hearing is scheduled next week for a former West Yellowstone businessman convicted of killing a former Gallatin County sheriff’s deputy in 1990.
Larry Moore - the first person in Montana to be convicted of murder without the victim’s body being found - is scheduled for a hearing before the state Board of Pardons and Parole on April 30, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle (https://bit.ly/1Hwywtw ) reported.
Moore, now 68, was convicted in 1992 of killing 38-year-old Brad Brisbin of West Yellowstone and sentenced to 60 years in prison.
Brisbin disappeared in November 1990 after meeting Moore at a Belgrade truck stop.
Moore denied killing Brisbin, whose body had not been found. He gave several versions of what happened, finally saying that he found Brisbin in his trailer with a handgun and that the gun went off as the two struggled over the weapon. The prosecution’s case hinged on DNA testing of blood and a tissue sample found in Moore’s camper, along with his apparent efforts to clean the camper and the fact the gun was missing.
Moore confessed to the murder in 1995 and led investigators to Brisbin’s body and the gun in exchange for the dismissal of federal charges alleging he was among a group of inmates who conspired to detonate a prison-made bomb near the warden’s office.
Moore will appear at his parole hearing from a prison in Oregon, where he has been housed since 1996.
However, state prosecutors will not attend next Thursday’s hearing. As part of negotiations in the 1995 case, the state gave up its right to oppose Moore’s parole. The board rejected his request for parole after hearings in 2000 and 2009.
Members of Brisbin’s family plan to attend next week’s hearing to oppose Moore’s release, Brisbin’s son, Jeremiah, said.
Moore’s sentence is set to expire on mid-January 2023 - six months shy of 30 years. Moore’s initial 60-year sentence was reduced to 30 under a previous law that reduced prison sentences for good behavior.
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Information from: Bozeman Daily Chronicle, https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com
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