Paula Bohovesky's killer denied parole again

A state parole panel has again denied early release for one of the two men who brutally killed 16-year-old Paula Bohovesky in 1980, finding Robert McCain still refuses to take responsibility for the Pearl River girl's murder.

McCain, 55, who has been imprisoned since 1981, can seek early release again in June 2017. He got a rehearing from his 2015 denial after he appealed to a state court. ​

The other killer, Richard LaBarbera, 63, formerly of Pearl River, also got a court-ordered rehearing when sex-abuse allegations rejected by the jury were introduced at his 2013 hearing. LaBarbera's next shot at release is scheduled for May 2017.

Both McCain and LaBarbera have been denied release since becoming parole eligible in 2005. They are serving sentences of 25 years to life for second-degree murder in the brutal killing on Oct. 28, 1980, in an alley off Main Street in Pearl River.

Both men deny responsibility for Bohovesky's killing.

The panel interviewed McCain on April 6 and released its decision Tuesday.

"You would not live and remain at liberty without again violating the law and your release would be incompatible with the welfare of society and would so deprecate the serious nature of the crime," the panel wrote. "During your interview, you continued to deny responsibility for this crime, despite giving an inculpatory statement."

Bohovesky was killed while walking home from the Pearl River Library, where she worked after school. An artist and aspiring actress, she was a block from home, where her mother Lois, a puppeteer, still lives.

Both men had spent the day drinking at the High Wheeler bar, according to authorities and trial testimony. They denied knowing one another, but left the bar after seeing the teenager with her long hair through the window.

McCain, a drifter and career criminal from Arkansas, hit her in the head with a chunk of pavement, authorities said. She stumbled down an alley, where McCain allegedly tried to sexually abuse her, authorities said.

LaBarbera watched and, thinking the teenager was dead, then tried sodomizing her, authorities alleged. When she stirred, LaBarbera stabbed her multiple times with a knife.

While the medical examiner found she was raped, the charge never went before the jury, which rejected a sodomy charge against LaBarbera.

Twitter: @lohudlegal