Parole denied in Ferndale murder case

A Flathead County man who shot and killed his father in Ferndale nearly 20 years ago was denied parole during a recent hearing.

Terry Charles Olson, 34, was only 14 when he shot his father Edwin John Olson in the head in his Ferndale home May 20, 1998.

According to a representative from the state Board of Pardons and Parole, Olson still must complete a chemical dependency program.

Olson’s next hearing will be in April 2019. Olson’s discharge date is set for May 15, 2022.

According to a previous Daily Inter Lake story, Olson told a psychologist that he took his father’s pulse to make sure he was dead, then showered, took money from his father’s wallet and drove off to play arcade games at the mall.

When authorities told him that they were going to call his father about his truancy, Olson responded by saying that his father was dead.

His father’s body was found when deputies showed up at his home off Montana 209.

Olson testified in 1998 that his father had been abusive by withholding food and beating him. He told a judge that he thought the murder was the only way to make the abuse stop.

“He wasn’t treating me the way I deserved,” Olson testified.

A teenage friend testified at a sentencing hearing that Olson had idolized his cousins Ted and Jesse Ernst, who killed businessman Larry Streeter in Bigfork on Christmas night in 1997. The Ernsts were arrested two days before Olson killed his father.

Olson originally was sentenced by Flathead District Judge Kitty Curtis to 40 years in prison with 10 years suspended, but the Montana Sentence Review Division adjusted the sentence to 40 years with 16 years suspended.

Olson previously was paroled in June 2009, but landed back in prison by late 2010 after he violated terms of parole by beating his girlfriend and consuming alcohol.

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com.