GUILTY NM - Stephane Murphey, 37, murdered in Rio Rancho, April 1999

The cruel ineptitude of the system and the cold indifference of a killer are obvious in the disturbing case of Stephane Murphey, an adventurous young flight attendant who on April 15, 1999, was sexually assaulted and strangled with her own stretch pants in her Rio Rancho home. Her body was carted around for four days in the back seat of her Chevy Sprint and left in an Uptown Albuquerque apartment parking lot until a neighbor complained of the stench.

Because of the many missteps in the case, it was not until 2002 that her killer, David Bologh, a violent career criminal, was identified and not until 2006 that he was sentenced to 21 years in prison, the maximum allowed under a weak plea agreement for second-degree murder and other charges. With nearly four years’ credit for pre-sentence confinement, that sentence was reduced to less than 18 years. And with the state’s “good time” law not set to expire until three months after the murder, his less-than-18-year sentence was effectively slashed in half.

And so on Jan. 16, one of the most dangerous men in custody is expected to be released from a high-security unit at the Penitentiary of New Mexico outside Santa Fe, having served just eight years and eight months for one of the most gruesome crimes in modern New Mexico history.

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Time was up Jan. 16. Bologh became eligible for parole, despite concerns over his sociopathic tendencies, possible schizophrenia, low-average intelligence, a criminal record of burglary and rape since his juvenile years and little in the way of skills or support outside prison walls.

As it turns out, Bologh wasn’t released until last week, the delay attributed by Department of Corrections spokeswoman Alex Tomlin to the rejection of two “parole plans.” In other words, either no halfway house or treatment program wanted him or could handle him.

Neither Tomlin nor parole board chairwoman Sandy Dietz would specify which plans were looked at, and neither would name the Deming facility or program Bologh was released to March 25. As an added safety measure, Bologh is also on GPS ankle bracelet monitoring, Dietz said. His parole is up around November 2016.

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