A man who murdered his wife at their Kalispell bowling alley in 1979 and tried to make it look like a burglary gone bad is up for parole this month.

Jerry Forsyth shot and killed Karen (Kienas) Forsyth at the Skyline Bowling Alley in a crime planned by Forsyth and his friend, Douglas Richards. Forsyth was sentenced in June 1986 to 110 years in prison. His requests for parole have been denied twice thus far, once in 2002 and again in 2007.

A new parole hearing, postponed from last year, is scheduled for the early morning of May 31 in Deer Lodge.

Karen’s sister, Susan Snell, has been following the hearing schedule and encouraging area residents and anyone who is willing to lend their voices to call, email or write the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole to oppose his parole.

District Judge Ted Lympus, who was serving as Flathead County attorney at the time of the murder, has written to the board to share his opposition to Forsyth’s parole request and may attend the hearing.

“The chillingly premeditated nature of this murder, coupled with an absolutely total absence of remorse, convinces me and others ... that Forsyth is totally without conscience and remains every bit a threat today as he did then,” Lympus wrote.

Current Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan plans to attend the May 31 hearing. Speaking with the Daily Inter Lake in late 2012, he called Forsyth an “unrepentant, recalcitrant bastard.”

Those interested in commenting on Forsyth’s possible release or wanting more information on the hearing can contact the board by phone at (406) 846-1404, by email at jpribnow@mt.gov or by regular mail at State of Montana Board of Pardons and Parole, 1002 Hollenbeck Road, Deer Lodge, MT 59722.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.