VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A 50-year-old former Navy SEAL trainee was granted parole on Wednesday after spending over 30 years in prison in connection with the murder of a college student, according to the Virginia Parole Board.
The decision was 3-2 in favor of Dustin "Dusty" Turner receiving parole. His initial sentence was for 82 years.
In 1995, Turner was in the final stages of Navy SEAL training. While at a bar with his swim buddy, Billy Joe Brown, Turner met college student Jennifer Evans, who was on vacation. Turner and Evans were later talking in his car parked outside, until Brown — drunk and angry — climbed into the car and killed Evans.
Watch previous coverage: Turner's mom hoped film would free her son
Even though Turner says it was Brown who killed the student, the Navy SEAL trainee drove away with the corpse in the car. He and Brown dumped the body in Newport News.
Police and federal agents questioned the men at least three times. Each time, Turner lied and said he knew nothing about what happened. He later confessed after failing a lie-detector test and led police to the body. Brown also confessed after learning Turner had done so.
Both Turner and Brown blamed each other. Police and prosecutors couldn't prove who actually killed Evans, so they enforced the Virginia law that states if two people participate in a murder, then both are guilty. Juries agreed and convicted both men, sending them to prison for life.
Years later, Brown officially confessed that he alone was the killer, and Turner only helped with hiding the body and covering up the crime.
An appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court in 2011 kept Turner locked up.
