Man Who Murdered Parents Is Set Free

Kenneth Janowski was a teen, 18-years-old, when he conspired with a friend to shoot and kill his parents in their Cedar Mill home.  That was 1985.  He plead guilty to aggravated murder on his 19th birthday and was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after thirty years.  

However, Janowski challenged that in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010, saying parole officials didn't go by the book.  The court agreed in a verdict known as the "Janowski Decision", making those convicted of aggravated murder before 1999 eligible for parole after twenty years.  Over 250 convicts are pleading for their early release under the verdict.  

Steven Wilson was 17-years-old.  He shot Arlene Janowski in the head while she slept and Dickson Janowski as he laid next to her.  When the bullets didn't kill him, Kenneth went back inside the home to "finish the job" and shot his father eight or nine more times.  Wilson will fight for his early release in December.

Janowski says he killed his parents because he didn't think they loved him.  He told the parole board he doesn’t believe he’s capable of hurting someone again.  Now 45-years-old, he's released to live with his wife in Marion County, whom he met as a pen pal.  They married behind bars in 1995.

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