Parole Board OKs Release Of Woman Who Shot Man In Face

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) — A Detroit-area woman who shot a man from a second-story window in 1984 then rushed down and fired again in his face in front of his family should be paroled from prison, the Michigan appeals court said Wednesday, overturning a decision that had blocked the killer's freedom after 26 years.

The court said a Macomb County judge trampled the authority of the Michigan parole board, which had granted parole for Michelle Elias in 2010.

"Although her therapy reports were not perfect, she admitted responsibility for her criminal actions and learned to recognize and manage her criminal behaviors," a three-judge panel at the appeals court said.

"Elias has the financial and emotional support of her family and husband to assist her re-entry into society. ... These factors tend to reinforce the conclusion that Elias would not become a menace to society," the court said.

Elias was convicted of second-degree murder in 1985. Armed with a shotgun and under the influence of drugs, she ambushed the victim, Brian Barczynski, as he arrived home in a car, along with his wife and young child.

Elias, 22 at the time, was having a romantic relationship with Barczynski's wife and believed he was abusing her.

Elias, now 49, was not a model prisoner for years but has had no misconduct since 2003. The parole board denied parole at least four times before finally changing course in 2010 over the objections of Barczynski's widow and adult children, who wanted Elias to serve the full 40-year sentence.

Elias planned to move to Jacksonville, Fla., to live with her husband, whom she met as a pen pal, but the Macomb County prosecutor's office persuaded Judge James Biernat to block her release. Biernat said the parole board didn't give enough weight to Elias' attitude and misconduct in prison.

"The 20-year minimum sentence reflects the seriousness of the crime, and that time has since been served," appeals court judges Elizabeth Gleicher, Jane Markey and Henry William Saad said in overturning Biernat's decision.