Staying behind bars

Parole denied for notorious killer

Still burdened by their sisters murder 30 years ago, three brothers begged the state Board of Pardons and Parole not to release her killer. They got their wish.

Karl Randy Bachman was sentenced in 1977 to life in prison for the 1973 murders of two Marion girls. He is now 55 and has spent more than half his life in prison for the crimes.

Twenty-eight years [in prison] may seem like quite a bit of time, Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan told the Parole Board on Friday. But, he said, It doesnt even come close to the measure of punishment we must extract from this man.

Three brothers of Jessica Westphal didnt get the chance Friday to see the man who killed their 9-year-old sister and her friend, Karen Tyler, 11. They were only children and very young men themselves when Bachman was sentenced, and their parents did not allow them to attend

the sentencing.

On Friday, they talked to parole board members before Bachman appeared, and one asked to talk to Bachman face-to-face. He couldnt. The reason is that their statements to the board are considered confidential (the family granted permission for a reporter to attend), and the hearing is not intended to be confrontational.

The men, now middle-aged, talked through tears about the disappearance of their sister, with grief and regret that wont go away.

I cant tell you what it does to you when you cant find your baby sister, said Creed Westphal, who helped his family search for years after Jessica disappeared. Her remains were found three years later, and Bachman confessed to the murders in October 1977.

You wake up in the morning and say, what good am I? I cant find her.

You cant believe how things changed in our family, said Ben Westphal, the youngest of five brothers.

I was only 12 years old when Jessica was killed, he said. His life immediately became a series of road trips to South Dakota, Nevada, Canada, Utah wherever people reported spotting Jessica before her body was found.

For years, hed see a girl in a pickup and think it was her. It never was.

We searched for those girls for three years, day in and day out, Creed Westphal said.

Besides the loss of a beloved sister, the brothers watched their parents fall apart.

It changed their entire lives and broke their hearts, Steve Westphal said.

He showed the three-member Parole Board a scrapbook with pictures of a little girl who would never have a chance to grow up.

Jessica and Karen never had a life, Creed Westphal said. They didnt have the chance to go to a prom or graduate. They never had a boyfriend, let alone the opportunity to marry or have children.

Theyre gone off planet, he said.

Karen Tylers grieving family had to leave the area after she was murdered, Corrigan said. They severed contact with the Westphals and the community, he said. There remains no record of where they went or what became of them.

All thats left of the Westphals sister was given to them in a small box, containing her skull and a few bones, and the horror of how she died.

All court and investigative records in Bachmans case in Flathead County are missing. There never was any information made public that he sexually assaulted the girls, but Creed Westphal referred to the confession, saying Bachman raped them both and shot them repeatedly like it was target practice.

Creed Westphal said the brothers discussed ways that they would kill Bachman if they had a chance.

I hated that man with a passion you cant believe, Steve Westphal said. Eventually, his hatred led him to religious faith that allows him forgiveness. That has been his salvation, he said.

Ben Westphal, too, believes that Randy Bachman has the opportunity to be saved like everyone else, he said, quoting the Bible to the board.

That doesnt mean Bachman should be set loose in the community, he said.

Creed Westphal said he believes the Parole Board should keep Bachman in prison for the rest of his life.

Im begging you. If I gotta get on my knees, I will, he told the board.

Corrigan agreed.

I dont care how old he gets. I dont care how much time spends in prison. I dont care if he is a model prisoner, he said. Bachman forfeited his life when he took two little girls lives, Corrigan believes.

The board denied parole for Bachman, who appeared briefly after the Westphals left. Board Chairman Vance Curtiss said Bachmans parole will be reconsidered in eight years. For now, the Westphal familys request to keep him in prison was granted.

The boards power is limited to that. It cant give the brothers what they really want a chance to see Jessica again.

I miss her, Steve Westphal said. We will never see her face again, until they are all in heaven, he said.

Man, do I long to see her, Creed Westphal said.