Where is the justice in murderer’s release?

On Dec. 4, the U.S. government released Gordon E. “Butch” Earley from a federal prison in Rochester, Minn., back to Iowa. Earley was put in prison for robbing the Grinnell State Bank in Grinnell and murdering two people in the process in November 1979. He was given a life sentence with possibility of parole after 30 years.

He committed these murders execution style. Of the two people murdered, one was my brother and the other was my brother's wife, who was also Earley's cousin. He will be released to a halfway house in Waterloo, and then will be living in Independence.

I have a hard time understanding why our government releases someone who has brutally murdered two people, premeditated no less, and then robs a federal bank. Upon contacting the Parole Commission analyst, our voices fell on deaf ears as I tried to explain why he should not be released because of the severity of this crime. Can someone please explain where the justice is here? What about justice for the family and members he took the lives of?

Why is it a murderer gets to be released and spend Christmas with his family after only 30 years of committing this horrendous crime while we have to live the rest of our lives without our loved ones? The grief, heartache and horror of this crime is still very present in our lives.

Kathy Whitsell

Chelsea