LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) – One of Louisville's most notorious killers wants to get out of prison.
Kevin Stanford was back in a courtroom on March 25 as his attorney asked a judge for a parole hearing.
Stanford was sentenced to death in 1982 for the rape and murder of 20-year-old Barbel Poore.
Governor Paul Patton later commuted his sentence to life without parole because he was only 17 at the time of the crime.
Stanford's attorney said his sentence is illegal because it's longer than what he would receive if he committed the crime in 2019.
“He's turned his life around from the 17-year-old who was involved in this offense to a middle-aged gentleman and somebody who really doesn't need to be in prison and who could be safely returned to society on parole,” Tim Arnold, Stanford’s attorney, said.
The victim’s family feel differently.
“My sister isn't coming back through that door,” Mona Mill’s, the victim’s sister, said. “I can't even bring myself to go to the cemetery anymore to visit her. I hate it there. They talk about retroactive, retroactive rights, where are hers? There isn't any, she's dead.”
The judge didn't give a timeline for her decision.
Stanford's co-defendant, David Buchanan, is serving a life sentence in connection to the case.