Parole hearing for Forsyth scheduled

By NICHOLAS LEDDEN

The Daily Inter Lake

Jerry Forsyth, convicted for the 1979 murder of his wife, Karen, will appear before the parole board Thursday at the state prison in Deer Lodge.

His last parole hearing was five years ago.

Forsyth, who has spent the last 23 years in prison, still maintains his innocence. But relatives of the murdered woman are just as convinced of his guilt.

"I have no doubt," said Karen Forsyth's sister, Sharon Snell. "From the get-go we knew he had done Karen in."

Snell wrote a letter to the parole board, as she did five years ago, urging them to deny Forsyth's freedom.

"Karen doesn't get a second chance, so [Forsyth] shouldn't get a second chance," she said. "It sends a bad message to let him out when he's committed that bad a crime."

Forsyth stood trial three times for Karen's murder. He was convicted in his third trial and sentenced to 110 years in prison.

Karen was shot to death at the couple's Kalispell bowling alley, where Forsyth was found with a superficial head injury. He said an intruder had shot his wife, knocked him out, and robbed their business.

However, an employee of the bowling alley, facing an unrelated charge, later testified that he and Forsyth has planned the murder, executed it, and then covered it up.

Forsyth's first conviction was overturned because the judge didn't give the jury a legal explanation of murder in his instructions. A second jury was hung at a trial in Polson. The third trial, held with a jury imported from Toole County, ended with Forsyth's conviction in December of 1985.

The decision to deny Forsyth parole in 2002 was supported by Karen's family and law enforcement officials.

The parole board is accepting letters, both in favor of and in opposition to, Forsyth's release. Address letters to the State Board of Pardons and Parole, 300 Maryland Ave., Deer Lodge, Mont., 59722 or fax them to (406) 846-3512. The deadline for letters is Wednesday.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com