:oops: I guess I fat fingered the post, he was convicted in 1971, during this period the Supreme Court had the dealt penelty under review and most were being sentenced to life. Creel was sentenced to life, but at that time the law did not mean life without the chance of parol. He first became eligible in 1977. He will continue to come up for parol about every three years.
Today Texas has a much stiffer "life without parol" sentence, but I think, had this taken place today Creel would have a date with the devil. The current Taylor County Sheriff was an Abilene Police investicator at the this time, he commented, "When her body was found stuffed in a culvert pipe near Tye, Texas she had a hole the size of your fist in the back of her head and choke marks around her neck. You wouldn't even dispose of a dog this way."
Go to your search engine and type in "James Duke Creel" for more information on this story. And if you have the time, draft a letter and forward it to the parol board. Creel is 68 years old today, he is where he belongs, and with everyone's help we can see to it that he does, in fact, spent the remainer of his natural life behind bars.