Sen. Brian Stewart (R-Freeport) is against paroling violent criminals. | Photo Courtesy of Brian Stewart
Sen. Brian Stewart (R-Freeport) is against paroling violent criminals. | Photo Courtesy of Brian Stewart
The family of a murdered teen wants to know how the Illinois Prisoner Review Board can justify its practice in recent years of paroling killers who have been imprisoned for decades.
Tony Casolari's uncle, Frank Casolari, who was murdered at age 16 by Ray Larsen in 1972, called it "ridiculous" and questioned how the state could lose Larsen, who disappeared but was later recaptured, the Chicago Sun Times reported. “What is our state doing?” Casolari asked the Times.
"What's more dangerous? Following our constitutional obligations to confirm all executive appointments, or letting violent criminals out without oversight?" Sen. Brian Stewart (R-Freeport) wrote in a Facebook post in response to what transpired with Larsen.
On April 29 in a 9-3 vote, the prisoner review board granted parole for the now 76-year-old Larsen. He was sentenced to 100 to 300 years for Casolari's murder.
Shortly after being released on May 13, Larsen took off and was a fugitive until his arrest on May 28th. Larsen was found in a Chicago-area hospital, although at this point it's unknown why he was there.
An attorney representing the prisoner review board told the Chicago Sun Times that the state board will be holding a hearing to determine whether Larsen violated the terms of his parole.
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