PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Oregon Parole Board has granted early release to a teenager involved in a murder that made national headlines.
The board announced Tuesday that 38-year-old Seth Koch, who was the second youngest member of the Redmond 5 and was convicted of killing Barbara Thomas in 2001, will get out of prison in June.
He’s the one who hit Thomas first with a wine bottle after she came home and discovered the group of teens had ransacked her house. Koch is also the one who shot Thomas in the head.
Koch was originally sentenced to life in prison when he was 15. He is one of dozens of violent juvenile inmates getting an unexpected chance to go before the parole board after former Governor Kate Brown used her commutation power to change their prison sentences.
Thomas’ family objected to the early release.
“My family has tried to heal from this crime, yet every time we think we are close, the wound gets ripped back open. I do not feel that Seth should get a chance for freedom when my family has been in a prison of sadness and despair since the murder took place,” Thomas’ niece Sara Jones at the parole hearing.
Koch is the third member of the Redmond 5 to be set free early. A fourth will have her parole hearing next week.
The others in the Redmond 5
Justin Link will get out of prison on April 28, which is about 8 years early on a sentence of 30 years to life.
Ashley Summers has her parole hearing May 3.
Lucretia Karle was released from prison 4 years early after Brown commuted her sentence. Now in her mid-30s, she was released in Yamhill County in 2021.
Barbara Thomas’ son, Adam Thomas, was 18 at the time of the killing. He is eligible for a parole hearing after serving 25 years of his term — which is about 3 years from now.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story referred to Seth Koch as the youngest member of the Redmond 5. He was the second youngest member. The story has been updated to reflect this information.