2 convicted killers to be paroled after serving decades in prison

Razor wire and fencing at the Utah State Prison on Monday, Sept 14, 2020. Two men who have served many years behind bars for separate murders have been given parole dates.

Razor wire and fencing at the Utah State Prison on Monday, Sept 14, 2020. Two men who have served many years behind bars for separate murders have been given parole dates. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)


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UTAH STATE PRISON — Two inmates who have served decades in the Utah State Prison for murder were recently granted parole.

One killed his mother in 1981 following an incestuous relationship and the other killed a stranger while attempting to kill someone else as part of a gang-related retaliation.

On Feb. 22, 1996, Collin J. Carter and two others shot and killed Joey Miera, 19, as he slept on the floor of a house at 918 S. Navajo St. The shooting was ordered by a gang leader who was incarcerated at the Utah State Prison, in retaliation for another incident.

But Miera was not the intended target and the house Carter and others went to wasn't even the right house. Carter, who was 18 at the time of the shooting, was convicted of murder in 1996 and sentenced to a term of up to life in prison.

During a parole hearing in April, Carter, now 43, talked about his accomplishments since being incarcerated, including how he has since left his gang lifestyle.

The five-member Utah Board of Pardons and Parole recently voted to parole Carter on June 29. However, when he is paroled he will be released into federal custody, according to the Utah Department of Corrections.

"His federal custody status will be monitored through UDC's Adult Probation and Parole division," according to a Corrections spokeswoman.

In 2002, while still serving time in the Utah State Prison, Carter and nine other members of his gang, the King Mafia Disciples, were indicted on federal RICO charges. The case marked the first time Utah prosecutors used the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) act against a local street gang.

Carter, who went by the moniker "Synn Dog," faced with a number of charges and was eventually convicted on a single count of racketeering. In 2003 — 18 years ago — he was sentenced to just under 22 years in federal prison. The judge ordered that sentence to run concurrently with his state sentence.

Parole was also granted to Bret Lee Etterlein, who at one point was ordered to serve his entire life sentence for killing his mother in 1981.

Etterlein told the board he had been sexually abused by his mother starting when he was 11. Then on June 22, 1981, at the age of 22 and after already serving time in prison for aggravated robbery and being forced to live at home again after his release, 45-year-old Nyla Earl was again trying to continue her incestuous relationship with her son, he said. But he resisted her advances.

Earl threatened to call her son's parole officer and claim he attempted to rape her if he refused, and she even ripped her own nightgown to make it look like an assault, Etterlien said. Earl then used a belt to hit her son in the face, according to Etterlien. He claimed that out of "rage" he then shot and killed his mother.

During his parole hearing in May, it was noted that Etterline, 62, hasn't had a single disciplinary write-up in the past 24 years. He also said there is "zero possibility" of him ever doing something like that again.

The board granted parole to Etterlein starting on July 6.

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Pat Reavy is a longtime police and courts reporter. He joined the KSL.com team in 2021, after many years of reporting at the Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio before that.

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