Killer Denounced by Bush Is Granted Parole in N.Y.

OTISVILLE, N.Y. —  A cop-killer whose 1985 grant of clemency from Gov. Mario M. Cuomo was denounced by then-Vice President George Bush was granted parole today.

Gary McGivern, who was convicted of murder in the 1968 shooting of a deputy sheriff, could be free by the end of the week, once the paper work is done, officials said.

The decision followed an appearance by McGivern before a three-member Board of Parole panel at the medium-security prison where he is serving a life sentence.

It was McGivern’s third such appearance since Cuomo’s New Year’s Eve, 1985 clemency that was attacked by Bush and many New York law enforcement officials. Twice McGivern was turned down because of the nature of the crime.

Edward Elwin, executive director of the Board of Parole, said the panel cited McGivern’s “outstanding record” in prison in voting 3 to 0 to release him under “intense supervision.”

Cuomo, as lieutenant governor, recommended clemency in 1979 after McGivern passed two lie detector tests, but then-Gov. Hugh Carey said no. Six years later, Cuomo granted clemency, making McGivern eligible for an immediate parole hearing.

In the past, the very idea that McGivern was even getting a parole hearing brought out placard-carrying prison guards and law enforcement officials. That was true again this week as members of the state Sheriffs’ Assn. protested outside parole board offices in Albany.