WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) - An Iowa woman convicted of a 1993 stabbing death when she was a teenager has been granted work release.
Ruthann Veal, 42, was granted the transitional status Tuesday following an interview with a three-member panel of the Iowa Board of Parole, the Courier reported. Andrew Boettger, the board’s vice chairman, said that the Iowa Department of Corrections recommended the move.
Veal was a 14-year-old runaway from Mason City when she was charged as an adult in the 1993 killing of 66-year-old Catherine Haynes, of Waterloo. Police said Haynes had been stabbed to death in her home and her credit cards stolen. A jury found Veal guilty two years later, and she was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled that such sentences for juveniles are unconstitutional. In response to that ruling, Veal was resentenced in 2013 to life with the possibility of parole.
It was not immediately clear when Veal’s transition would take place or where she would be serving work release.
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