A convicted killer will remain behind bars after being denied parole Tuesday morning during a virtual hearing in Baton Rouge.

“One vote to grant, two votes to deny today,” Brennan Kelsey, a parole board member, said. “Your parole has been denied.”

Samuel Galbraith has only served 20 years of his 71-year sentence for his conviction in 2000 of manslaughter and attempted first-degree rape.

“I would like to apologize to Karen Hill’s family that’s watching,” Galbraith said.

Galbraith confessed to kidnapping, raping and killing Hill in Vernon Parish back in 1988. Investigators found Hill’s body tied to a tree with a gunshot wound to her left eye.

“I would implore the board to think,” James Hill, Karen Hill’s husband, said. “What if that was your wife, your daughter, your sister?”

The hearing lasted for more than an hour, and both sides made their case.

“I’ve taken all the state recommended programs,” Galbraith said. “As far as the substance abuse, anger manager, [and] sex offender course[s].”

Galbraith’s argument for parole focused on his involvement in prison programs and his nearly spotless discipline record while behind bars, only receiving two write-ups in the past 24 years. However, law enforcement told the board not to buy it.

“In conclusion, I believe Galbraith is a master of telling people what he believes they want to hear,” Jeffrey Price, a detective with the Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office, said. “I think he’s a master of deception.”

Galbraith secured the parole hearing through the “20/45 Law,” which allows prisoners parole eligibility after serving 20 years of their sentence if they’re 45 years of age or older.

“I don’t know what the reason was that allowed [him] to plead guilty to a much less[er] charge, then the more serious charges which would’ve guaranteed that he wouldn’t have been before this parole board,” Tony Marabella, a parole board member said.

However, Tuesday’s two to one vote from the parole board will keep Galbraith behind bars for at least two more years.

The Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office says Galbraith remains a person of interest in two other homicides that happened in Vernon Parish around the same time.

https://www.kalb.com/2020/12/01/convicted-killer-samuel-galbraith-denied-parole/