WARREN, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- The family of Debra Dill has lived in fear since the 18 year old was brutally murdered back in 1973.
"The day Debra's grisly murder was discovered, the world as my family knew it was gone," Kim Dill, Debra's sister, explained to the Maine Parole Board.
Debra Dill had been driving alone when a man, later identified as Michael Boucher, rammed her car with his own in order to get her to pull over, then sexually assaulted her and beat her to death with a hammer.
"Days turned to weeks, to months, to years, to decades," Kim Dill told the board about the search for her sister's killer. It wasn't until Boucher was arrested for assaulting another woman that police found evidence connecting him to Debra Dill's murder. He was convicted of murdering her in 1991.
Because the crime occurred when the state still allowed murderers to seek parole, Boucher is eligible to request his parole every five years. So every five years members of Dill's family are forced to relive the past and fight to keep him behind bars.
"Every time a parole hearing happens, all the emotional turmoil of those wretched days after the murder are relived," Kim Dill explained. "The nightmare of brutality and cruelty, which no one should have to live through, are experienced by anybody and everybody who's life was impacted by Debra's death."
"If he is paroled, would you allow this man in your neighborhood, in your house, with your wives, daughters or sisters knowing his past history?" asked Cindy Dill-DiRusso, another of Debra's sisters.
"We implore you to keep Michael Boucher behind bars for the rest of his natural life," she begged the Parole Board.
The family delivered more than just emotional testimony, they also handed over more than 1400 petitions signed by members of the community asking the board deny Boucher's attempt at parole.
After hearing from Dill's family and supporters, the board met to consider his case. In the end, the board voted to deny his parole. Boucher will be eligible for parole again in 2019.
