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OGDEN, Utah (AP) -- The state Board of Pardons has concluded that Eddie Michael Underwood should spend the rest of his life in prison for murder and the sexual abuse of a child.
The decision was announced Tuesday following Underwood's Oct. 6 parole hearing, his first since his 1985 convictions in Ogden.
Underwood, 57, can ask the board for another hearing in 10 years, said Jesse Gallegos, the board member who sat for Underwood's Oct. 6 hearing.
Leon Zerfas, 16, the brother of one of the young girls who were sexually abused, was stabbed to death on Sept. 7, 1985. Underwood was out on bail after the sex abuse charges were filed and was confronted by Zerfas.
Among 312 inmates in prison for murder, Underwood joins only 28 other inmates for which the board has recommended natural life terms, said Jim Hatch, a board of pardons case analyst. Another 19 are serving life-without-parole sentences and 10 are on death row.
Lanis Ogilvie, Zerfas' mother, spearheaded a letter-writing drive to the board among friends, relatives and acquaintances of Zerfas'.
Gallegos said the board received more than 40 letters against Underwood.
"The board doesn't make its decision based on letter-writing campaigns," he said. "That's a footnote in this whole process.
He said of greater impact was the testimony at the hearing by the victims and their families.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
