DESCHUTES COUNTY, Ore. — More than 20 years ago, in Redmond, Oregon, five teenagers — including Barbara Thomas' son — were convicted of brutally killing the 52-year-old woman, beating her with empty wine bottles before shooting her in the head. Now, some of them are being released early from prison — one as soon as the end of this week.
At the time of the murder, prosecutors told reporters the group had several ideas on how to kill her.
"The indictment alleges in one fashion — electrocution," said the Deschutes County District Attorney in 2001. "In another fashion, by injecting Mrs. Thomas with bleach."
Canadian immigration officers arrested the teens the next day, as they attempted to cross the border in the victim's car.
All five — Adam Thomas, Justin Link, Seth Koch, Lucretia Karle, and Ashley Summers — faced 22 felony counts, including aggravated murder, assault and robbery. At that time, Measure 11 imposed mandatory minimum sentences for serious crimes, regardless of age. For aggravated murder, that meant a minimum of life in prison.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that a life sentence without possible parole for juveniles in aggravated murder cases was unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment, which forbids cruel and unusual punishment.
Nearly a decade later, in 2021, former Oregon Governor Kate Brown commuted the sentences of people serving sentences of 15 years or more for crimes committed under the age of 18, meaning they become eligible to seek parole after 15 years. Dozens met that criteria, 20 of them serving sentences for murder, including four of the "Redmond 5."
Brown made the move two years after Oregon lawmakers changed the state law in 2019. In Oregon, teens charged with Measure 11 crimes are no longer automatically charged as adults.
Fast forward to 2023, two of those responsible for the Thomas murder are on the way out: both Link, and Koch.
"Justin Link was the person who first suggested the group of five to murder Barbara Thomas, and ultimately he is the one who told his companions to finish the job, and to kill Barbara Thomas," said current Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels.
Link was 17 at the time of the crime, and is now nearing 40. The state's parole board granted his early release, and he will be released on Friday.
"I think it was the correct legal decision because the parole board was tasked with assessing whether or not Mr. Link has been rehabilitated, and there's no real question that he has been," defense attorney Thaddeus Betz told KTVZ in March.
After a parole board hearing last week, Koch was also granted early release. He will get out of prison mid-June. He was 15 years old in 2001, and is now 38.
Lucretia Karle, who was 16 at the time, and Ashley Summers, then 15, each were sentenced to 25 years. Karle was released in September 2021, and Summers' parole hearing is next week.
The victim’s son, Adam Thomas, who at the time was 18 — and the only adult at the time — had his life sentence commuted to life with 25 years before possible parole, which would make him eligible to seek release in about three years.
KTVZ, our partner station in Bend, Oregon, contributed to this report.