Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Hammer killer Monte Louis Young Jr., convicted in 1998 of beating a man to death with a hammer and sentenced to life without parole, was given a chance at parole with a new sentence this morning.
given hope
of parole
The original sentence for
the 1997 murder denied any
chance at parole but the
Supreme Court overruled itBy Suzanne Tswei
Star-BulletinCircuit Judge Victoria Marks handed Young
the new sentence in accordance with a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling that determined the life sentence without parole was unwarranted.
The state high court in May overturned Young's earlier sentence, which was based on a section of state law that provides for "enhanced" or extended sentences in cases that are "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel."
Young was convicted of second-degree murder for beating Paul Ulbrich to death May 10, 1997, at the Burger King restaurant at Metcalf Street and University Avenue. Prosecutors said the attack was unprovoked and unusually cruel.
Court testimony said Young approached his victim from behind and struck him on the head repeatedly, and stopped to inspect the damage after each blow. However, justices concluded 3-2 that there was not enough evidence to show the attack was "unnecessarily torturous."
Young's lawyer, Michael Ostendorp, said his client likely would remain in prison "for a long time." The Hawaii Paroling Authority will decide how long Young must serve before being eligible for parole.
Young, who suffers from mental disorders, has been in custody since his arrest after the attack and is being confined in a special medical unit at Halawa Correctional Facility, Ostendorp said.
Three court-appointed mental health experts had concluded that Young was legally insane, but Marks rejected the insanity defense and convicted him of murder.