By Charlie McKenna
masslive.com
MILFORD, Mass. — A man convicted of killing a Milford police officer more than 40 years ago was granted parole this week, the department announced, calling the decision disheartening.
Patrick O’Shea was granted “compassionate release” by the state’s parole board, according to a statement posted to Facebook by the Milford Police Department.
Officials with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, which oversees the board, did not immediately confirm the news, however, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Correction, O’Shea was granted “medical parole” on Tuesday and remains in custody Wednesday “under medical care.”
A copy of the board’s decision will not be released because it includes private, medically protected information, the spokesperson explained.
Sgt. Walter “Moose” Conley was killed in the line of duty while working a detail at Milford Savings Bank on Dec. 10, 1980. Conley was struck by gunfire attempting to stop an armed robbery while attempting to escort a bank teller into the bank.
In the wake of the shooting, O’Shea and another man, John Currie, fled to upstate New York, where they were captured. Both men were sent back to Massachusetts and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Milford Deputy Police Chief John Sanchioni criticized the decision.
“It disheartens me that the cold-blooded killer of a police officer can be released without serving the penalty our justice system handed down,” he said.
The president of the union representing the town’s police officers also derided the decision.
“We are deeply saddened by the parole board’s decision to cast away the outcome of the judicial process and give release to a convicted cop killer,” said Milford Police Association President Anthony Bavosi.
The town’s police chief, Robert Tusino , asked for prayers for Conley’s family.
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