NASHVILLE, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Gaile Owens, who was scheduled to be executed in Tennessee last year for arranging her husband's killing, has been granted parole, officials said.
The Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole voted 4-2 Wednesday for Owens' release, The (Nashville) Tennessean reported Thursday. She is expected to be released from prison within a few weeks after more than 25 years behind bars, most of them under sentence of death.
Owens' supporters say she was driven to murder for hire by years of physical and mental abuse. Former Gov. Phil Bredesen commuted her sentence last year, well in advance of her scheduled execution date, Sept. 28, 2010.
Sidney Porterfield, 68, who was convicted of beating Ronald Owens with a tire iron in his Memphis home for $17,000, remains on death row.
