Yakima Juvenile Killers Could Gain Freedom in 2023
It was a brutal killing in Parker in 1988 when two suspects killed Dorothy and and Mike Nickoloff. The brutal and violent stabbings of the couple shocked the community. Herbert "Chief" Rice Junior and Russell McNeil both 17 at the time of the killings were arrested and charged with First-Degree murder. After a trial both teens were sentenced to life in prison with no parole.
The Prosecutor says he believes both will be released from prison
Now both are set to be resentenced early next year after a 2012 decision by the US Supreme Court found unconstitutional mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole for juveniles.
Yakima County Prosecutor Joe Brusic says he's determined to make sure both men remain behind bars but he knows that's not going to happen. Brusic believes both men will eventually be released from prison.
A hearing for Russell McNeil has been set for February 13 in Yakima County Superior Court. No court date has yet been set for Herbert "Chief" Rice Junior but Brusic expects it to happen next spring.
The hearings have been delayed since 2016
Both were set to face resentencing in 2016 but delays and the pandemic delayed the hearings.
Another hearing is expected to be set next year in the case of Miguel Giatan for the 1993 killing of the Skelton family in Outlook. The other defendant Joel Ramos has since been released from prison after a similar hearing in 2020.
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Gallery Credit: Jacob Osborn & Peter Richman