‘Redmond 5’ murderer Justin Link will be released from prison in April

Published 5:45 pm Wednesday, March 8, 2023

A man who was sentenced to life in prison for his role in one of Deschutes County’s most notorious murders was granted release by the state parole board on Tuesday.

Justin Link, 39, was convicted of aggravated murder for being part of a group — known as the Redmond 5 — who killed Barbara Thomas in 2001.

He was sentenced in 2003 and served more than two decades in prison, but on April 28, he is scheduled for release.

Link, who was 17 at the time of the crime, was long considered by prosecutors to be the “ringleader” in the murder of Thomas, who was beaten with a bottle by her son and then shot and killed. Link remained outside the home, speaking with those inside by phone, as she was murdered.

Link was eligible for parole after Gov. Kate Brown’s mass commutation order in 2021 that allowed more than half of Oregon’s most serious juvenile offenders to seek parole or early release. The move came after the Legislature passed a bill making sweeping changes to the state’s juvenile justice system.

It also came in the wake of a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that made a life sentence without the possibility of parole for juveniles convicted of aggravated murder unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment, which forbids cruel and unusual punishment.

In its ruling, the board stated that, upon reviewing a psychological evaluation of Link, it determined he “has demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation” since the crime. The parole board’s decision brings a conclusion to one of the region’s most hotly contested cases, one that has wound its way through the courts several times in recent decades. Link has been sentenced four times.

Thaddeus Betz, who has served as Link’s attorney as the case wound through the courts, said Link has proven himself reformed during his years in prison, repeatedly garnering praise from prison staff who vouched for him during hearings. He said Link was never disciplined while in prison and made a point of staying out of trouble.

“I would invite him as a next door neighbor,” Betz said.

Betz said the trauma that Link’s actions inflicted upon the community are clear, and suggested Link acknowledges this. However, he argued that it would be wrong to think that Link is the same man he was when he was younger. To him, Link’s case demonstrates that “children and young adults are capable of incredible development and reform.”

Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels said he expressed concerns to the parole board that Link had not fully acknowledged his role in the grizzly crime, notably that he was the first to raise the idea of murdering Thomas and urged his accomplices to finish the job.

While he was not surprised by the board’s decision, given the evidence of Link’s rehabilitation, he said the decision would have a wide-ranging impact, particularly on Thomas’ family.

“It forces the victim’s family to relive the horror they experienced years before,” said Gunnels, who responded to the crime scene 22 years ago. “It’s like picking a scab … They’re good people and were devastated by the murder and this won’t help.”

Brown’s commutation intended to correct for Oregon’s long history what critics describe as harsh penalties for juveniles, including a mandatory sentencing measure that for years gave the state one of the highest youth incarceration rates nationwide. Opponents of Brown’s efforts voiced concerns about the potential impact on public safety and the re-traumatization of victims and their families.

Brown’s plan made four of the five people involved in the murder eligible for parole, each of whom were teens at the time of the crime. She commuted sentences for Lucretia Karle and Adam Thomas, the son who beat his mom with a wine bottle.

In the coming months, parole board hearings are scheduled for the other two people involved, including Seth Koch, who shot and killed Thomas, and Ashley Summers.