Sentences of Salem twins reduced in 1993 murder of couple
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A judge has significantly reduced the sentences of twin brothers who were convicted of murdering an elderly Salem couple in 1993, leaving them to serve about six more years, instead of a lifetime.
Marion County Circuit Court Judge Lindsay Partridge sentenced Laycelle and Lydell White on Monday to 40 years in prison with lifetime post-prison supervision, The Statesman Journal reported. The sentence was based on an agreement between the state and the Whites’ attorneys.
The charges against the 43-year-old men, who have served 26 years, were reduced to second-degree murder.
The brothers are eligible for earned time or good behavior credits and credit for what they served as juveniles before they were sentenced. The Oregon Department of Corrections will compute their remaining sentence. Prosecutors believe it will be around six more years.
The brothers at age 15 killed a couple in their 80s and stole their car. The bodies of Grace and Richard Remy were found in their Salem home, near the house where the twins reportedly lived.
The brothers were tried in adult court and convicted of murder following a 1994 bench trial. They were sentenced to nearly 67 years in prison.
The case returned to the county circuit court in 2019 after the Oregon Supreme Court tossed their sentences, declaring they constituted cruel and unusual punishment because of their age at the time of the murders.
