Old Cowboy Serving Life Term for Killing Denied Early Parole

CARSON CITY, Nev. —  An elderly cowboy seeking parole from a life term imposed last year for killing a man in a gunfight was turned down Monday.

“Give him another chance!” cried the wife of Robert Lee (Red) Elliott as the three-member Nevada Parole Board deliberated. The board members said that Elliott, who is 72, may try again in 18 months.

Elliott said he wanted out of the Northern Nevada Correctional Center because of his health problems and so that he can care for his wife of 47 years. He suffers from prostate cancer, emphysema and asthma. His 82-year-old wife, Katherine, is blind and confined to a wheelchair.

Parole board chairman Bryn Armstrong said the panel voted unanimously to deny Elliott’s request because of the nature and severity of his crime. The victim, Keith Carrigan, 33, was shot twice and his charred body was found several miles from the town of Yerington, where the shooting occurred in January, 1984.