By C1 Staff
PORTLAND, Ore. — While Gov. John Kitzhaber considers commuting the death row sentences of 35 inmates, their victims’ families worry about finding closure.
The Oregon Department of Corrections says it’s continuously contacted the governor’s office for answers, but has received no response, according to KATU.
Seven of the inmates currently on death row could get out of prison due to an odd state sentencing guideline; since they committed their murders before 1990, if their sentences are commuted to life in prison they could go in front of a parole board once they’ve served 30 years.
The parole board wouldn’t be able to consider their crime when deciding if they should be released. The governor could bypass this issue by simply keeping them behind bars with a sentence of life without parole.
If the inmates do have their sentences commuted, they won’t immediately be removed from death row.
“They need to know there’s never going to be any closure until it’s done,” said Jenny Kegley, whose sister and three children were killed by Christian Longo, her sister’s husband.
“It’ll always be there. It’ll always be part of my life, so when he is dead at least I can have a little bit of closure and not worry about my family.”
“I never agreed with the death penalty until this happened, and I’m all for it,” she finished.