Convicted serial killer Joseph Ture, who is serving six life sentences connected to the murders of six people in Minnesota, appeared before the state’s Supervised Release Board seeking parole after decades behind bars, but the hearing quickly turned into a tense argument over responsibility, rehabilitation and whether he should ever be allowed to leave prison.
Courtroom footage published by The Court Docket Network showed Ture, now 74, joining the hearing by video from a Minnesota correctional facility while board members reviewed his convictions and listened to emotional statements from relatives of several victims.
Ture maintained throughout the hearing that he did not commit the murders for which he was convicted. When confronted with the lasting pain described by the victims’ families, he eventually referred dismissively to what he characterized as their “sob stories,” while insisting that their anger was being directed at the wrong person.
The exchange was striking because the board repeatedly told Ture that it was not there to retry his criminal cases. Its job was to decide whether he had demonstrated enough accountability, rehabilitation and reduced risk to justify parole.
Six Life Sentences And Decades In Prison
At the beginning of the hearing, officials reviewed Ture’s record.
Rebecca Holmes Larsson, identified during the proceeding as an executive officer connected to hearings and release, said Ture was serving active life sentences for the murder of Diane Edwards and the killing of Alice Huling during a home invasion in which three of Huling’s children were also killed.
Edwards was killed in September 1980. Her body was found naked near a roadway, and officials said she died from a stab wound to the chest.
The Huling family killings occurred in December 1978. Alice Huling and three of her children were killed inside their home.
The board was also told that Ture had four additional consecutive life sentences still waiting to be served and that the hearing represented his third review after roughly 35 years on the two active sentences.
His minimum parole eligibility date had passed in January 2016.
That technical eligibility did not mean release was likely, however. The central problem for Ture became clear almost immediately: he continued to deny committing the killings and offered the board little evidence that he had confronted the crimes for which he was imprisoned.
Families Describe A Loss That Never Ended
Before Ture spoke, relatives of the victims submitted statements describing how the killings had continued affecting their lives decades later.
Georgia Huling, Alice Huling’s sister, wrote that the December 1978 murders changed her family forever and left her living with fear and post-traumatic stress. She remembered family visits, dinners and the ordinary experience of expecting to grow old alongside her sister, all of which disappeared in a single night.
She told the board that Ture had never shown remorse or admitted guilt and said she believed he would kill again if released.
Shirley Walls, who described herself as an especially close first cousin of the Huling children, recalled being 10 years old when her parents told her that Alice, Susie, Wayne and Patty had been killed.
Walls remembered the children as kind and happy, with plans for college and adulthood that they never had the chance to pursue. She asked how someone convicted of killing so many people could even be considered for parole and argued that six life sentences should mean exactly that.
Another family member, identified as Vicki, described walking into the victims’ memorial service and seeing four caskets lined up together. She told the board she still wondered what the children would have become as adults and said she wanted Ture imprisoned “to his last breath.”
Karen, another cousin, described years of nightmares, fear and memories of the family activities that disappeared after the murders, from sledding and board games to holiday gatherings and time at their grandparents’ farm.
The detail in those statements made them more than general appeals for punishment. The relatives were describing the ordinary pieces of life that murder removes permanently, including birthdays, meals, childhood games and relationships that were expected to last for decades.
Mother Of Murdered Teen Says Release Would Bring Fear Back
The board also heard a statement from Frances Wohlenhaus Monday, the mother of 18-year-old Marlys Wohlenhaus.
She described seeing her daughter on the morning she was attacked, only weeks before Marlys was supposed to graduate from Stillwater High School. Later that day, she returned home and found her daughter dead.
Monday said the killing began a nightmare for the family, leaving them frightened enough to move away from Minnesota.
She also described years spent seeking justice before Ture was eventually prosecuted in connection with her daughter’s killing, saying his imprisonment finally gave the family a measure of peace.
The possibility of his release, she told the board, would bring that fear back.
“Why would I have to live in fear again?” she asked, urging the board to leave Ture in prison for the rest of his life.
Ture Says He Did Not Kill Anyone
When the board finally turned to Ture and asked what outcome he wanted, his answer was immediate.
“I did not commit these crimes,” he said.
Ture then spent much of his appearance challenging evidence from his criminal cases, accusing witnesses and inmates of fabricating confessions and arguing that investigators had built false cases against him.
Board members repeatedly redirected him, explaining that the hearing was not an appeal and that they were not authorized to retry his convictions.
One board member told Ture that the evidence had become overwhelming enough to result in his convictions and instead asked him to explain what he had done during incarceration to improve himself.
Ture said he had worked throughout his years in prison, including in factory and kitchen jobs, and claimed he had treated staff respectfully and accumulated very few disciplinary violations.
He also said he had earned a GED after a previous review encouraged him to do so.
When asked about anger-management programming, however, Ture rejected the idea that he needed it.
“I ain’t got no anger management problem,” he said.
That response appeared to reinforce the board’s concern that Ture saw himself primarily as a victim of the justice system rather than someone responsible for violent crimes.
“What Harm Can I Do?”
The board pressed Ture repeatedly on one basic question: Why should anyone support his parole?
Ture pointed to his age.
“I’m 74 years old,” he said. “What harm can I do to anybody out there?”
A board member responded that people his age and older were still capable of harming others and again asked him to make an affirmative case for release.
Ture struggled to provide one.
“I don’t know what to say,” he eventually responded. “It’s all stacked against me.”
He continued maintaining his innocence, arguing that DNA evidence and employment records supported his claims and accusing Minnesota authorities of refusing to pursue what he considered the real perpetrators.
Near the end of his remarks, Ture acknowledged that he had done “some bad things” when he was younger but insisted murder was not among them.
He also made a remark that drew particular attention from the board, saying that he had been “hunting women” and prostitutes before his imprisonment.
Later, while speaking about the victims’ relatives, he characterized their statements as “sob stories,” while adding that he could not blame them for feeling bad but was not the person they should blame.
That moment likely did little to strengthen his parole argument. Even without an admission of guilt, a person asking for release can still show understanding of the suffering caused by the crimes for which he was convicted, but Ture instead remained focused almost entirely on his own belief that he had been wronged.
Board Votes Unanimously To Keep Him In Prison
During deliberations, board members made clear that they saw no reasonable basis for release.
One member initially discussed whether Ture could simply be paroled into his next consecutive life sentence, partly to spare surviving relatives from having to return repeatedly for future hearings, but that motion was withdrawn.
Jo Earhart and other board members discussed the continuing public-safety concerns, with one member saying Ture’s offenses had escalated in violence and cruelty and that he would remain a danger to women and children.
The board also pointed to his refusal to accept responsibility and lack of meaningful programming.
Andrew Larson, executive director for Tri-County Community Corrections, supported a longer continuation period, and the final motion called for parole to be denied and another review delayed for 20 years.
One board member returned to Ture’s remark about “hunting women,” calling it perhaps the only honest statement he had made during his closing remarks.
The vote was unanimous.
Ture’s parole was denied, and his case was continued for 20 years.
The hearing ultimately turned less on his age or the sheer number of years already spent in prison than on what the board believed was missing from his presentation: accountability, insight and a convincing explanation for why someone convicted of six murders should ever be trusted outside prison again.
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, John developed a love for the great outdoors early on. With years of experience as a wilderness guide, he’s navigated rugged terrains and unpredictable weather patterns. John is also an avid hunter and fisherman who believes in sustainable living. His focus on practical survival skills, from building shelters to purifying water, reflects his passion for preparedness. When he’s not out in the wild, you can find him sharing his knowledge through writing, hoping to inspire others to embrace self-reliance.
