Tulare County woman convicted of killing husband is denied parole for the second time
A California parole board for the second time has denied parole for convicted murder June Gravlee of Tulare.
Gravlee, 67, is serving life in prison for the 1987 murder of her husband Andrew Gravlee.
Police said she along with her brother, Gary Smith, stabbed Andrew Gravlee multiple times in the back and chest. The also used a ball-peen hammer to cause severe blunt force trauma to his head.
June Gravlee tried and failed to pin the murder on her brother, who eventually pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years-to-life in prison. He was granted parole in 2013 after serving 24 years.
In her 1990 trial prosecuted by former Tulare County District Attorney Phil Cline, a jury convicted her of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of murder for financial gain. For several months after his death, she collected her husband’s pension and social security checks, and even applied for additional benefits. Andrew Gravlee was 35 years older than his wife.
During her parole hearing at the California Institution for Women in Corona, Gravlee admitted for the first time in 34 years her guilt in the murder, according to a news release from the Tulare County District Attorney.
However, commissioners felt that she still had trouble internalizing her culpability and furthering her self-awareness.
Prosecutors noted little emotion from Gravlee when she talked about the victim and the manner in which she murdered him, the news release states.
