Parole denied for Hollandsburg slayings convict Smith

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) - The Indiana Parole Board has denied an early release to one of the four men sentenced to four life sentences for a 1977 western Indiana home invasion that left three teenage brothers and their step-brother dead.

The (Terre Haute) Tribune-Star reports (http://bit.ly/2aFdrU9 ) 57-year-old David Smith appeared before the parole board this week, nearly 39 years after he was convicted of the Hollandsburg shotgun slayings of 22-year-old Gregory Brooks and the three Spencer brothers: 17-year-old Raymond, 16-year-old Reeve and 14-year-old Ralph.

Smith was 17 at the time. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled this year that mandatory life sentences with no parole should not apply to juveniles convicted of murder, allowing Smith a parole hearing.

Smith and two others convicted in the slayings are imprisoned at the Pendleton Correction Facility.

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Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com