Kelsey Grammer's Sister's Killer Denied Parole

DENVER — A man convicted of killing the sister of Kelsey Grammer and two other people more than three decades ago was denied parole Monday after the prison board heard a written statement from Grammer calling the man a butcher and a monster.

The Colorado Parole Board also heard from other relatives of the victims and from detectives before deciding not to release 52-year-old Freddie Glenn.

"This is a butcher. This is a monster," said the statement from the star of TV's "Frasier." "I can never accept the notion that he can pay for the nightmare with anything less than his life."

Grammer had planned to attend the hearing at a state prison in Limon, about 90 miles southeast of Denver, but a rain delay at Kennedy International Airport in New York caused him to miss a connecting flight.

Glenn is serving a life sentence for the first-degree murder of Karen Grammer in 1975 when she was 18. She was abducted outside a Colorado Springs restaurant, raped and stabbed on July 1.

In addition to that slaying, Glenn was convicted of the June 19, 1975 slaying of 28-year-old motel cook Daniel Van Lone during a botched robbery, and the June 27, 1975, slaying of 19-year-old Army soldier Winfred Proffitt during a drug deal.

Glenn had been given the death penalty but that sentence was commuted in 1978 to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Colorado law no longer allows parole in life sentences for first-degree murder, but Glenn was convicted before that law was changed.

During the hearing, Glenn downplayed his role in the slayings and told the board, "I apologize for my participation in something so terrible. I am sincerely and truly remorseful," The Denver Post reported.

In his statement, Grammer said his sister had graduated from high school a year early and decided to take a year off after attending a semester of college. Grammer said she may have moved to Colorado Springs because of a boy she liked.

"She was so smart and good and decent. She wrote poetry ... We could laugh for hours together," Grammer wrote. "I was supposed to protect her – I could not. It very nearly destroyed me... When we heard this man might be paroled, the suffering began anew."

Glenn will be eligible for parole again in 2014.

Comments

[gtalkspolitics]

04:59 PM on 07/29/2009

I Like KG!!!!! We wrote letters to the patrol board asking them to keep Glenn locked-up

[Forester]

03:54 PM on 07/29/2009

KG's father was m u r dered when he was just 13.
Pretty rough.

[Blueline]

10:08 PM on 07/28/2009

Last week I signed a petition to keep the killer of one of my friends in jail. Life should be life. 50 years should be 50 years. Emotionally raping the victim's families and friends every few years is not a functional system.

[Rangergirl]

09:13 PM on 07/28/2009

Why was a death sentence changed to life WITH parole? Why wouldn't they make it without parole? Kelsey is such a neat guy....This monster took a beloved member of his family and two others....Why does this man have to go thru this every 5 years? Sad very Sad.....

[jokr8790]

09:58 PM on 07/31/2009

The state legislature must have screwed up when they changed the sentencing statute to provide for life with parole, but not for life without parole. The statute has since been amended, but at the time he committed the crime he would have come under the earlier statute.

[asta1968]

08:30 AM on 07/28/2009

Grammer has lost two family members to violent crime. His dad and his sister. The animal that took her life needs to spend the rest of his locked up.

[lionzion]

01:02 AM on 07/28/2009

Throw him in the great salt lake already.. Wrong state, but right idea!!

[tuckgraph]

11:52 PM on 07/27/2009

I didn't know about this story before today. It made me think of Woody Harrelson, whose father was sentenced to life in prison for murder. Totally different situations, I know, but quite a coincidence that they worked together on a show called Cheers. Woody campaigned hard to get a new trial for his father, who died in prison a couple of years ago. They must have had some interesting discussions.

[LeeCalif]

11:42 PM on 07/27/2009

This guy killed three and he has parole hearings.

Conservatives cause so much pain by fouling up things.

[Bystander]

02:00 PM on 07/28/2009

The conservatives are responsible for keeping the killer in jail. Feminized liberals would release him.

[LeftieLefty]

01:59 PM on 07/29/2009

Oh Really? Well, I'm a liberal and a female, so I guess that makes me a Feminized liberal, and I wouldn't want this monster released back into society, nor would anyone of any political opinion, I think.

But how classy of you to take something excruciating and twist it around liberalism. Rush, is that you?

[skunky93]

10:48 PM on 07/27/2009

Wow I had no idea! I'm feel so bad for his sister, for Kelsey, and their family.

[Sherzie]

09:14 PM on 07/27/2009

I keep wondering how a person who has been given a LIFE sentence can be paroled.

[Bill Royal]

07:50 PM on 07/27/2009

Good

[truthartbeauty]

06:21 PM on 07/27/2009

I never knew that story about him and I always liked his show but is he not some ultra conservative george bush supporter?? I heard that once and could hardly believe it.

[AntiSheep13]

08:05 PM on 07/27/2009

Why does everything have to be politicized? Who cares? This is about a major tragedy that caused Grammer to spiral into addiction and abuse. This is a major relief to the entire family and I hope the killer is truly rotting in jail.

[truthartbeauty]

08:17 PM on 07/27/2009

I thought it was relevant to a basically political blog, since I thought he would be the very epitome of a 'hollywood liberal'.

[rejoyce5]

10:46 PM on 07/27/2009

Who cares if he is a Republican?? His sister was murdered.

[raker]

03:20 PM on 07/29/2009

Republicans endorse torture and murder. Grammer's sister's death is no more tragic than the deaths of thousands of innocents who died in Iraq, or the innocent "suspects" who were tortured to death in American death camps during the Bush regime's reign of terror.

[losangelesgirl]

05:49 PM on 07/27/2009

is it bad that I had no idea he had a murdered sister?! how horrible

[tlgeiger62]

04:58 PM on 07/27/2009

I wish Kelsey would come back to teevee. I've seen several interviews and have been a fan of Frasier for many years. He is a good man and a very talented actor and I wish him and his family the best.

[lionzion]

01:05 AM on 07/28/2009

He executive produced african American shows like "Girlfriends" and "The Game".. Pretty good shows, but who am kidding, you would never watch.

[PoliSci2008]

04:57 PM on 07/27/2009

((((Kelsy)))) and ((((Karen)))). Amd thanks to Department of Corrections.