Parole board to announce Beach decision

 HELENA — Montana’s parole board is planning to announce its decision on whether to accept convicted murderer Barry Beach’s clemency application.

The Montana Department of Corrections says in a statement the announcement will be made at the Deer Lodge Community Center at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Board chairman Mike McKee has said a full clemency hearing will be held if the parole board accepts Beach’s application.

Beach is serving a 100-year prison sentence for the 1979 beating death of classmate Kim Nees in Poplar.

Beach was released for 18 months after a judge ordered a new trial, but the Montana Supreme Court overturned the decision and he returned to prison last year.

He says he showed model behavior while free, and cites a U.S. Supreme Court decision that says juvenile offenders can change.