Convict in 1988 Southern Oregon slaying loses release bid

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - A Riddle woman's pleas were answered Tuesday when she was told one of the men who killed her father and wounded her mother in a 1988 home-invasion robbery will remain in prison for at least four more years.

Theresa Drysdale-Lutzker, 50, spoke before the Oregon Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision at a release hearing for Karl Matthew Kazor, 42, one of her parents' assailants.

"My parents loved each other for over 35 years. This man tore their love apart the day he shot my mother and murdered my father," Lutzker said, motioning toward Kazor. "This man committed the worst crime ever and murdered a human being. I plead with you today, please, please consider denying this murderer the opportunity to perfect his crime in the future. Keep the murderer in prison for life."

Kazor, who sat at the opposite end of the table facing the three-person panel, hung his head as Lutzker and several other people read statements in opposition to his release.

On July 25, 1988, Kazor, then 16, and his 18-year-old brother, Victor Raymond Kazor, busted into Glen and Eileen Drysdales' home on Lower Cow Creek Road in Riddle and shot them. Eileen Drysdale, 53, suffered a gunshot wound to her chest. Her husband, who was shot multiple times, died of his injuries at the age of 58. Eileen Drysdale recovered from her wound, but has since died.

Karl Kazor has been serving a life sentence for the murder. He was also convicted of attempted murder and first-degree burglary.

Victor Kazor, 45, was convicted of aggravated murder, attempted murder, first-degree assault, two counts of first-degree robbery, two counts of first-degree burglary and unauthorized use of a vehicle. His earliest release date is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 24, 2030, according to the Oregon Department of Corrections.

During the hearing, Lutzker asked the parole board not only to deny Kazor parole but also to also push back his next hearing date.

"I cannot do this every two years. Please allow us a little bit of time to heal," she said.

After some deliberation, the board decided Kazor still poses a significant threat to society.

"This is probably not what you were expecting and wanted to hear today," said Sid Thompson, one of the board members.

The board had concerns about Kazor's minimization of his drug and alcohol use as a teenager, and his lack of progress between his last psychological evaluations. A 2014 evaluation found Kazor presently suffers from an antisocial personality disorder.

Kazor said he did not agree with the evaluation's findings.

"I'm not interested in committing crime or assaulting someone," he said.

He said since his last hearing he's been working "hard on morality" and caring about others. He participates in several programs in the prison, including a Christian group.

Board member Kristin Winges-Yanez said she believed Kazor was still acting guarded and trying to protect himself, something she noted at his last hearing.

Board member Michael Wu said he was troubled by the fact that of Kazor's three release options, his plan to live in Douglas County was the "thinnest." When released, offenders usually return to the county where the crime was committed.

Kazor said Douglas County was his last option because he didn't want to make the victims' family feel uncomfortable and that he'd have stronger support elsewhere. He said there are limited resources for him in the county.

His first option was to move to Iowa to live with his sister and her husband. He hoped to work in carpentry and wanted to go to school to follow up on his training. He also planned to go to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and drug and alcohol treatment. Kazor has also been in contact with a church in the area.

"I think I would have structure," he said.

His second alternative was to stay in Marion County, where his now-wife lives and he has "good sponsors" and mentors.

During their questioning, all of the board members struggled with how Kazor, who had no known prior history of violence, went from committing thefts and burglaries to killing someone.

"That's a pretty big jump," Wu said.

Kazor said his "rough upbringing" played a role in his decision to resort to violence. He was one of six children. His father was an alcoholic and abused his mother. He spent much of his childhood in foster care or running away from home, he said.

He said when he and his brother got a hold of some guns they felt "empowered."

"I wish I would have given it more thought and how it would hurt the Drysdale family," Kazor said of the crime. "I knew right from wrong, but I chose wrong. I was very selfish."

In 1988, the Kazor brothers traveled across the country from Three Rivers, Michigan, committing burglaries and car thefts in a number of states, and became stranded in Douglas County after their pickup ran out of gas.

The brothers were unarmed until they burglarized another residence on Lower Cow Creek Road, in which they stole two handguns and two rifles.

The brothers reportedly ran out of gas later that night, walked on foot along the railroad tracks to the Drysdales' home and slept on the bank of the creek. They planned to rob the couple and cover up the crime by killing any witnesses.

Kazor said during the hearing that he intended to kill the couple because he was selfish and didn't have regard for human life.

He told the board he ran back and forth knocking on the couple's doors until Eileen Drysdale answered. He immediately shot her in the chest with a .32-caliber semi-automatic pistol. His brother then entered the residence with a .357-caliber Magnum revolver at the same time Glen Drysdale ran to the door with his .22-caliber pistol. Both opened fire, wounding each other.

Eileen Drysdale was able to reach a phone in the bedroom and call for help.

Kazor said police arrived a short time later and found him tending to his brother's wounds behind a low fence near the back of the house. The brothers surrendered.

The Drysdales were transported by ambulance to Douglas Community Hospital in Roseburg, where Glen Drysdale was pronounced dead.

"I know the pain I have caused, whether I relayed that today or not. I have never felt worthy to go before the board," Kazor said. "I wish I would've been the person killed in the situation and not your family. I'm sorry you've had to go through this. Please forgive me."

Theresa Lutzker and her children, who lived in California at the time, had just visited her parents at their home earlier that month for the Fourth of July. She said the holiday meant a lot to her father, a Korean War veteran.

Lutzker said today she was "very happy" with the outcome of the hearing and that she won't have to attend another for four years.

Kazor's next hearing is scheduled for February 2019.

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Information from: The News-Review, http://www.nrtoday.com