A Montana man who spent three decades behind bars for a murder he says he did not commit walked out of prison Friday after the governor granted his clemency request.
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Beach will be required to serve the suspended portion on probation.
“Obviously we’re thrilled. It’s going to get Barry home in time to be with his mom for Thanksgiving”, said Beach’s longtime attorney, Peter Camiel.
Beach had been serving a 100-year sentence with no possibility of parole for the 1979 beating death of Kimberly Nees, 17, on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, in the northeast corner of the state.
Beach, 53, has said he’s innocent of the crime, maintaining that police in Monroe, Louisiana, coerced a confession from him in 1984.
The development Friday appears to end one of the most high-profile and litigated criminal cases in recent Montana history.
Beach was released for 18 months beginning in 2011 for a new trial. The judge then released Beach from prison without bond while the state appealed the decision to the Montana Supreme Court.
A new law – inspired in large part by Beach’s case – gives Montana’s governor the final decision in clemency requests instead of the parole board.
“We’re operating under a new (board) chairman (and) we have four new members, and we’re operating under a different set of laws”, Beach said in a telephone interview from the Montana State Prison.
Earlier requests submitted to the board on Beach’s behalf were rejected. The convicted killer argued his 100-year sentence should be reduced because of a 2012 Supreme Court decision limiting the sentencing of juveniles.
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Last year, Bullock wrote a letter to the Parole Board on an earlier request, supporting Beach’s attempt to gain parole. “Therefore, if the hearing panel decides to forward a recommendation of clemency, I will carefully consider that recommendation”.
