The Massachusetts Parole Board has voted to parole Katherine McGlincy, now 74, who pleaded guilty in 1994 to the second-degree murders of Eero and Lillian Helin in their Pembroke home in December 1992. It was her sixth appearance before the board. She had been denied after an initial hearing in 2008 and after review hearings in 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2025.
The board’s Record of Decision is dated September 10, 2026. The vote was unanimous. She is to be released to a long-term residential program that treats mental health and substance use, 45 days from the date of the decision. What follows comes from that decision and from the board’s 2021 decision denying her, both of which are public records.
The crimes
According to the board’s decision, McGlincy was 40 and smoking crack cocaine at the house she shared with her father when she decided to rob an elderly couple who lived nearby to get money for more drugs. Armed with a handgun, she knocked on the Helins’ door and Lillian Helin, 65, let her in. McGlincy demanded money. Mrs. Helin gathered money from around the house and handed it over. McGlincy then forced her to lie face down on the floor and shot her three times in the back.
McGlincy then went upstairs to the bedroom of Eero Helin, 72, who had Parkinson’s disease and limited mobility and strength. He died of suffocation. “Ms. McGlincy has never provided a credible account of how she killed him,” the 2026 decision says. The bodies were found on December 10, 1992.
The murders were not solved right away. Six weeks later, while hitchhiking, McGlincy shot Mark Walther, the man who had given her a ride, multiple times and stole his car. He survived. She was caught at a roadblock the same day with a .22 caliber gun, and ballistics tied it to Mrs. Helin’s murder. She told police she had entered the Helins’ home with a gun but had no memory of shooting Mrs. Helin or of harming Mr. Helin.
On September 1, 1994, in Plymouth Superior Court, she pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and received two concurrent life sentences with the possibility of parole. She also pleaded guilty to unlawfully carrying a firearm and armed assault with intent to murder Walther, receiving 3 to 5 years concurrent and 5 to 10 years to be served after the life sentences.
Why the board said no in 2021
The 2021 decision is useful because it shows what changed. At that hearing McGlincy had no lawyer. The board found that “it does not appear she has gained insight as to her causative factors and criminal culpability,” that she “continues to provide the Board with varying versions of the offense and appears to minimize her criminal behavior,” and that she had “demonstrated a pattern of extreme violence in the community.” It pointed to the Walther shooting and to an earlier stabbing of a preacher.
The 2021 decision also records her account at that hearing. She described a “suicide by police” plan, said she took a revolver from her father’s gun safe in the weeks before, and said she chose the Helins because they lived near her father and she knew no children lived with them. Asked repeatedly how Mr. Helin died, she “could not provide a clear answer.” The board set her next review for three years out.
Why the board said yes in 2026
At the March 26, 2026 hearing, McGlincy was represented by attorney John Cunha. The board’s reasoning is short. After her 2025 hearing, it had “expressed concerns regarding Ms. McGlincy’s re-entry plan and how to support her need areas including substance misuse and mental health.” This time, the board found, she “has come before the Board now with a comprehensive re-entry plan and presents with community supports for her needs.”
The board also cited a forensic evaluation by Dr. Galvin, her institutional behavior over 34 years in custody, her report that she has been sober for more than 32 years, and roughly 20 years of compliance with medication. It concluded unanimously that she “has demonstrated a level of rehabilitation that would make her release compatible with the welfare of society.”
Two members of the victims’ family and Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Mello testified against parole. Opposition from the family and the district attorney is heard and considered, but it is not a veto.
Notably, the 2026 decision does not say the board is now satisfied with her account of Mr. Helin’s death. It repeats that she has never given a credible one. The grant rests on the release plan, her treatment record and the evaluation.
The legal standard
The standard is in G.L. c. 127, § 130. Parole may be granted “only if the board is of the opinion, after consideration of a risk and needs assessment, that there is a reasonable probability that, if the prisoner is released with appropriate conditions and community supervision, the prisoner will live and remain at liberty without violating the law and that release is not incompatible with the welfare of society.” The same section says no prisoner “shall be granted a parole permit merely as a reward for good conduct.”
For a life sentence, G.L. c. 127, § 133A requires a hearing before the full board and a grant “by a vote of two-thirds of its members.” If parole is denied, the board must reconsider at least once every five years. For second-degree murder, the sentencing judge fixes the first eligibility date between 15 and 25 years under G.L. c. 279, § 24. Our guide to parole for murder in Massachusetts explains the process in more detail.
The conditions
The special conditions in the decision are:
- Release to a long-term residential program; work requirement waived for the program.
- Home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. for six months, except for medical, legal, religious or work reasons.
- Electronic monitoring for six months.
- Drug testing, weekly toxicology for the first 90 days, and a case conference at the first sign of relapse; alcohol abstinence with testing.
- Mental health counseling for PTSD, bipolar disorder and relapse prevention.
- No contact with the victims’ family.
A life sentence does not end on parole. A lifer on parole remains under supervision for the rest of the sentence, and a violation can send the person back.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Katherine McGlincy?
She pleaded guilty in 1994 to the second-degree murders of Eero Helin, 72, and Lillian Helin, 65, in their Pembroke home in December 1992, and to the shooting of Mark Walther six weeks later. The Parole Board voted unanimously to parole her in a decision dated September 10, 2026.
How many times was McGlincy denied parole?
Five times: after her initial hearing in 2008 and after review hearings in 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2025. The 2026 grant came at her sixth appearance.
Why was she paroled now?
The board said she came with a comprehensive re-entry plan and community supports, which it had found lacking after her 2025 hearing. It also cited a forensic evaluation, her institutional record, more than 32 years of reported sobriety and about 20 years of medication compliance.
Where will she go?
To a long-term residential program for mental health and substance use, with six months of electronic monitoring and a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. The program has not been named publicly.
What vote does the Parole Board need to parole a lifer?
Two-thirds of its members, under G.L. c. 127, section 133A. McGlincy’s vote was unanimous among the six participating members.
Sources: Massachusetts Parole Board, Record of Decision in the Matter of Katherine McGlincy, decision dated September 10, 2026 (hearing March 26, 2026), and Record of Decision after her January 7, 2021 hearing, both read in full from mass.gov. Statutory text of G.L. c. 127, sections 130 and 133A, and G.L. c. 279, section 24 read at malegislature.gov. Coverage by the Fall River Reporter and New Bedford Guide was consulted. General information about Massachusetts law, not legal advice.