![He pleaded to leave Maine prison early amid pandemic. The answer was no.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e35b80f61083b2de0ce1cbb/1593384381667-3TEAPEEIF3ENVFIOB4V7/image-asset.jpeg)
![Maine prisons don’t have enough COVID cases to warrant immediate releases, judge says](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e35b80f61083b2de0ce1cbb/1593383669530-N1TWPJVD3BONY9C6YDYK/image-asset.jpeg)
![Judge wants Maine, attorneys for 2 prisoners to agree on reviewing inmates for release](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e35b80f61083b2de0ce1cbb/1591402827145-WWHILL737HERU9CKOC7L/image-asset.jpeg)
![LePage commutes 17 prisoner sentences](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e35b80f61083b2de0ce1cbb/1591106448207-N01ZYMVUUXPKHVAAM5UC/15814121_H19970296-600x400.jpg)
LePage commutes 17 prisoner sentences
PORTLAND, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage has granted more than a dozen prisoners early release, capping a tumultuous week that has left legislators uncertain of whether he will continue to push to close the state prison in Machiasport.
Our View: Early release for inmates can work if well-planned
In 1973, Michael Boucher strangled 18-year-old Debra Dill in a wooded area of Litchfield and used a hammer to beat her so viciously that one of her teeth lodged in her windpipe.