Parole denied for 2 killers

By CHERY SABOL

The Daily Inter Lake

The state parole board Thursday denied release for two men convicted of murders in Flathead County.

Hearings were held at the state prison in Deer Lodge.

J.R. Fletcher was convicted of the 1979 murder of Roy Cooper in the North Fork. Brent Brown is serving a sentence for killing Joseph Grady outside the Dew Drop Inn bar near Coram in 1995.

Fletcher's case was notorious when it happened.

He, his wife, Teresa, and a friend, Ronald White, showed up at Cooper's house when their truck was mired in mud in his driveway on April 7, 1979.

While Cooper tried to pull out the truck, the trio conspired to steal his horses. They were on the run from authorities in Oklahoma, planning to escape into Canada.

They forced Cooper to saddle his horses and held him at gunpoint while they broke into area homes.

Before they left, Fletcher stabbed Cooper to death.

At Thursday's parole hearing, though, Fletcher said it was his wife who killed Cooper. Fletcher told the parole board that his wife wanted to see what it was like to kill someone. He said that she shot him.

"Shot?" Deputy County Attorney Lori Adams asked him. "That was a stabbing."

The three were later arrested after a shootout with law officers in Idaho.

Fletcher was sentenced to 100 years in prison for murder and also was convicted of escaping from jail. When he was convicted, he threatened to kill Cooper's family.

Both Teresa Fletcher and Ronald White have been paroled from prison.

Cooper's family has campaigned against Fletcher's release at previous parole hearings.

On Thursday, the board quickly decided to deny his release again, based upon his lengthy criminal history and the nature of Cooper's murder.

Fletcher told the board that there is a federal detainer for him in Oklahoma. He said he wants to go back there and serve out his time with the years remaining in his life. He is 56.

The board pointed out that Cooper probably had time remaining in his life when Fletcher killed him. The board will reconsider Fletcher's parole again in three years.

It also quickly dispensed with Brown's plea for freedom.

Brown was sentenced in 1996 for the July 28, 1995, murder of Joseph Grady, 25.

Then 23, Brown shot Grady over a woman after buying Brown drinks and playing pool with him. He was arrested later in Cut Bank.

The parole board remarked on Brown's relatively light sentence. He received 50 years for deliberate homicide, plus 10 for the use of a weapon. Thirty years of that was suspended.

Deputy County Attorney Dan Guzynski argued against Brown's release.

"Twelve years for deliberate homicide is not adequate," he said.

The board was concerned that Brown reportedly threatened a guard in prison and has not taken advantage of mental-health programs there.

Brown was a boy when his father shot himself to death near Essex after being stopped by law officials. His father, Donald Brown, was suspected of having murdered his wife.

Brent Brown's parole eligibility will be reviewed in two years.

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com