Calling the man a “butcher” and a “monster,” actor Kelsey Grammer sent an e-mail to a Colorado parole board imploring them to deny his sister’s killer’s request for release from prison.
Freddie Glenn, who is serving a life sentence after murdering three people in a six-week span in 1975 -- including Grammer’s sister Karen -- was denied the parole on Monday. He will not be eligible again for five years, the maximum allowed under Colorado law.
Grammer had planned to attend Monday's hearing at the Limon Correctional Facility -- 90 miles southeast of Denver -- but rain grounded his flight. He sent the email to Teller County D.A. Robert Russel, who initially prosecuted Glenn.
Karen was an 18-year old waitress at a Red Lobster restaurant in Colorado Springs when Glenn and two other men attempted to rob the restaurant, and after that failed, abducted her.
After dragging her around for another hold up, the men took her to an apartment where they sexually assaulted and then killed her, according to police testimony.
Glenn, 53, who also was convicted of murdering two other people, first became eligible for parole in 2006. Colorado no longer allows parole for criminals sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder, but Glenn was convicted before that ruling.
Russel read Grammer’s e-mailed letter aloud to the board on Monday.
Grammer began by apologizing for not being present at the hearing and went on to describe both what his sister had meant to the family and how her death affected every member of it, himself in particular. Her death occurred five years after their father had been murdered.
“I miss her. I miss her in my bones,” he said. “I was her big brother. I was supposed to protect her -- I could not. I have never gotten over it. I was supposed to save her. I could not. It very nearly destroyed me.”
Grammer then characterized Glenn as a “monster” and questioned why the board would consider releasing him.
“Is it really possible for him to live on the outside again without returning to his old ways?,” he said. “Can you be certain that he will not slaughter another innocent life and destroy another family?"
There is no word yet on what the board ruled.
Here's the complete text of Grammer's letter:
Dear Robert,
Thanks for all your help. I am saddened that I missed this opportunity to be at the hearing. You know the circumstances: rain delays at Kennedy that made it impossible for me to be in Colorado Springs in time to attend. It is no fault of the airlines; things just turned out against me in this regard and I only hope that it does not result in turning things against my sister or the families of the victims in this case. Please tell the members of the parole board that it is my sincere hope they do not release my sister’s killer. Karen Elisa Grammer was her name.
