The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ordered the parole of convicted rapist and murderer Samuel Galbraith be reinstated after it was rescinded on a technicality in 2017.

Galbraith sued the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Parole this year on the grounds that the recession of his parole just days before he was set to be released violated his due process rights.

Galbraith was an active duty soldier at Fort Johnson — then Fort Polk — when he murdered 21-year-old Karen Hill in 1988. He “kidnapped Hill from a convenience store, raped her, tied her to a tree and shot her in the eye,” the American Press previously reported.

Hill’s murder was unsolved for nine years. After a tip led to the arrest of Galbraith, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2000, claiming he committed the crime to “live out a fantasy.”

He was originally sentenced to 71 years in prison. In November 2016, he was granted parole and was set to be released in April 2017. His case was reviewed for early review due to a law allowing first-time offenders to be considered for parole if they had served 20 years in prison and were aged 45 or older; however, the decision was blocked by Gov. John Bel Edwards, as Hill’s mother, Jessie McWilliams, received a delayed notification of his hearing.

His parole hearing had been rescheduled for August 3, 2017, but he withdrew his request for a hearing one month before.

In December of 2020, he virtually appeared before the Parole Board, but was denied for early release due to the evidence and testimony of Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office Det. Jeffrey Price that “overshadowed” Galbraith’s testimony, the American Press reported.

In the appeal document submitted on Oct. 23, it was stated that “an email exchange occurred between Special Counsel of the Louisiana Governor’s Legislative Staff and a lobbyist with Top Drawer Strategies, LLC” expressing concern over negative media reports centered around Galbraith’s “release and potential impact on the success of the pending criminal justice reform legislation.”

On the same day as the email exchange, a Parole Board Action Sheet was created rescinding his parole on the basis of the technicality.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed and remanded for the district court to release Galbraith, stating in the document “Galbraith’s parole was ostensibly rescinded because of an alleged problem with notice to a victim. He was notified of this reason on May 1, 2017, 10 days after his parole was rescinded. At the time, that was not a permissible reason to rescind his grant of parole.”

WBRZ reported that “the Director of Probation and Parole said that they are exploring all legal options right now.”