More than three decades after she robbed and killed an elderly Pembroke couple, Katherine McGlincy has been granted parole. The Massachusetts Parole Board voted on Sept. 10 to release the 74-year-old, who has spent 34 years behind bars for the 1992 slayings of Eero and Lillian Helin, subject to a lengthy list of conditions including a nighttime curfew, drug testing and mandatory mental-health counseling.
McGlincy pleaded guilty in 1994 to second-degree murder in the deaths of Eero, 72, and Lillian Helin, 65, according to masslive.com. She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, the outlet reports. As Fall River Reporter notes, McGlincy admitted entering the Helins' residence with a handgun and told police after the 1992 murders that she had no memory of shooting Lillian Helin or harming Eero Helin.
A Brutal Crime Rooted in Addiction
According to the seed reporting, McGlincy was smoking crack cocaine on the day of the killings and had a history of substance abuse and criminal activity. She demanded money from Lillian Helin, who gave her cash before McGlincy forced her to lie face down and fatally shot her three times in the back — wounds that masslive.com's earlier reporting confirms killed her. Eero Helin, who had Parkinson's disease and limited mobility and strength, died from suffocation, per the same outlet's account.
Six weeks later, on Jan. 14, 1993, McGlincy committed another violent crime: after Mark Walther gave her a ride while she was hitchhiking, she shot him multiple times and stole his car, the station's report states. Walther survived. Police recovered a .22-caliber gun from McGlincy after she was apprehended at a roadblock the day of the shooting, and ballistics analysis later identified that weapon as the gun used to kill Lillian Helin, according to Fall River Reporter's account of the case record.
Guilty Pleas and a Life Sentence
In Plymouth Superior Court in September 1994, McGlincy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the deaths of Eero and Lillian Helin, as well as to unlawfully carrying a firearm and armed assault with intent to murder Walther. She was sentenced to two concurrent life terms with the possibility of parole, plus a concurrent three-to-five-year term for the firearm charge and a consecutive five-to-ten-year term for the assault on Walther, per the same case record cited by Fall River Reporter.
Massachusetts law makes second-degree murder eligible for parole after 15 years, according to the Patriot Ledger. But the board turned McGlincy down repeatedly over the decades. She first appeared before the board in 2008 and was denied again in 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2025 before this month's grant, masslive.com reports.
A String of Denials Before This Year's Reversal
The board denied McGlincy parole in 2021. As recently as August 2025, a majority again voted to deny parole while seeking more answers and a stronger reentry plan; one member voted for parole into group living. That decision also called for a forensic evaluation and additional risk assessments before any future release determination.
Fall River Reporter's review of the board's records indicates the panel this time weighed a forensic evaluation from Dr. Galvin and McGlincy's institutional conduct across her 34 years of incarceration. McGlincy reported being clean for more than 32 years and medication compliant for roughly 20 years, and she presented what the outlet describes as a comprehensive reentry plan with community supports.
Board Cites Progress, Family Opposition Noted
The board cited McGlincy's progress in strengthening her reentry plan, including supports for mental-health and substance-abuse issues, according to masslive.com. A Massachusetts government case-decision snippet states that the board concluded by unanimous decision that McGlincy had demonstrated a level of rehabilitation that would make her release compatible with society's welfare, a characterization echoed in Fall River Reporter's account of a unanimous vote. The board had previously expressed concerns about McGlincy's reentry plan, substance misuse and mental health before reaching that conclusion.
Opposition testimony came from two victims' family members, per Fall River Reporter, which names Elizabeth Mello as having opposed McGlincy's parole in Plymouth County. McGlincy will be released to a long-term residential program that the board found meets her mental-health and substance-misuse needs, rather than returning to independent living immediately.
Strict Conditions Attached to Release
Under the terms of her parole, McGlincy must remain home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. for six months, wear electronic monitoring during that period, and undergo drug and alcohol testing, masslive.com reports. Fall River Reporter's account adds that she must complete weekly toxicology testing for the first 90 days, abstain from liquor, attend a case conference at the first sign of relapse, and waive work obligations under the parole program; she may still leave home during the curfew for medical, legal, religious or work purposes.
She is also barred from contact with the victims' family, must report to her assigned Massachusetts parole office on the day of her release, and must attend mental-health counseling addressing PTSD, bipolar disorder and relapse prevention, according to the same account. Her case now stands in contrast to the string of denials that defined the prior decade, when the board — as it did with Dickson in 2016, 2011 and 2008, per the Patriot Ledger — repeatedly found her unready for release.
