SEQUIM — After 31 years behind bars, the man convicted of killing a local couple is eligible for parole, to the dismay of the victims’ family.

John Carothers has shown a lack of remorse for killing Ronald and Wanda Buck in 1971 in their home on the Dungeness River, granddaughter Lynette Dryke said Monday.

Mrs. Dryke and her husband, Steve, are petitioning for community support to keep Carothers locked up.

The family previously sought the support of Port Angeles and Sequim residents in 1995, when Carothers first faced the parole board.

More than 1,000 signatures and support from then-Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney David Bruneau kept Carothers in prison, Mrs. Dryke said.

Carothers was then denied parole again two years later.

Now, she says the man who killed her grandparents and got life in prison could be released from state custody as early as the end of next month.

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The rest of the story appears in the Wednesday Peninsula Daily News Clallam County edition. Click on SUBSCRIBE to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.