KALISPELL – Jerry Forsyth, convicted of killing his wife Karen at a Kalispell bowling alley in 1979, is up for parole.
Although Karen was murdered almost 40 years ago, her family has to relive her painful death every five years when her killer is up for parole.
“She would have loved to be like an Honors English teacher, she loved kids. She just was an amazing person that way, she was very smart,” her sister Karen Snell said.
Karen’s final resting place is at Glacier Memorial Cemetery; she would have turned 69 years old in July.
Police found Karen’s body with a bullet wound in the head at the Skyline Bowl in Kalispell on December 11, 1979.
Forsyth was convicted for her murder in 1986 and sentenced to 110 years in prison.
“He’s in a very good place for him, a person like that. Calculating and cold. Not a nice man, he’s an animal,” Snell said.
Now she’s fighting for him to stay in prison. Snell is speaking out against her sister’s killer every time he is up for parole every five years and vows to continue that legacy.
“I hope he stays right where he is at and I would love it if people would write letters even if it is just a few words saying keep him in prison,” Snell told MTN News.
The parole hearing is set for May 23.
Letters can be sent: Montana State Board of Pardons & Parole, 1002 Hollenbeck Road, Deer Lodge, Montana 59722.
Reporting by Nicole Miller for MTN News
