Man will ask for commuted sentence

A 49-year-old man asking to be released from prison will tell his story to the Iowa Parole Board tomorrow afternoon. Richard Spence was convicted in Sioux City of raping and kidnapping in 1976 for attacking two women. Clarence Key, Junior, of the Iowa Board of Parole, says Spence was sentenced to “life” in prison.Key says Spence believes he’s “rehabilitated” and he’s asking the Parole Board to recommend to the Governor that his sentence be commuted. Iowa’s Governor has the sole authority to commute a sentence. Spence will be interviewed at one o’clock tomorrow. The two women Spence attacked have written letters to the Parole Board, but Key doesn’t know if the women oppose Spence’s commutation. Last December, the Parole Board voted against commuting the sentence of a woman convicted of killing her ex-husband.