Board members declined to recommend either commutation or an executive pardon. As a result, Beach, 45, will continue serving his 100-year sentence for the 1979 killing of a Poplar teen.
The board in its decision said “no proof of innocence, or newly discovered evidence of non-guilt” was presented at their hearings.
“A negative decision by the parole board does not change the fact that I know in my heart that I am not the person who killed Kim Nees,” he said Thursday night in a telephone interview with the Associated Press. “To me it's not over. It will never be over until I walk out as a free man.”
Beach's attorney Peter Camiel said the board made a mistake, adding that Beach was disappointed despite having “steeled himself” for this outcome.
“When you do as much time as he has, and he has had plenty of letdowns over the years, he gets himself ready for being disappointed,” said Camiel, an attorney with the innocence group Centurion Ministries.
Earlier this summer, Beach was granted rare hearings on both issues after his cause was taken up by the innocence group and other high-profile advocates, including the former mayor of Poplar.
In its 20-page decision, the board said it was convinced Beach was properly convicted and dismissed claims that Beach's confession was coerced by authorities.
The board noted Beach has “resisted taking responsibility and coming to grips with his wrongdoing.”
The board said the decision likely settles a case that has stretched back years with various appeals.
“A day ultimately comes when matters are deemed settled; for our perspective, if never before, at last today is that day,” the board said.
Camiel said it was too early to say whether Beach's options had been exhausted. He said Centurion Ministries would have to review the board's decision.
“Whether there is something we can do or not, I can't even say at this point,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Brian Schweitzer said there was no other way for the case to reach the governor's desk now that the board has rejected Beach's claims.
Attorney General Mike McGrath said he was pleased with the decision.
“I am grateful that the board has, in its own words ‘laid this matter to rest,' ” McGrath said.
Beach's attorney had argued there was no other evidence besides a coerced confession linking his client to the killing of 17-year-old Kim Nees.
The state Attorney General's Office had maintained the lengthy confession contained the words of a young man expressing remorse for the brutal killing.
During the hearings, it was argued that a group of girls was actually responsible for the killing. Shoddy police work, including some done by the girls' relatives, was blamed for his conviction.
Beach also said he could not remember giving his confession, which occurred a few years after the killing.
In its decision, the board said the confession substantiated evidence only the killer could have known.
“It is apparent to us that it would have been impossible to create so detailed and so correct a false confession in any event: but the validity of that observation is underscored brightly by the facts that Mr. Beach knew and explained much which the officers had not been able to piece together,” the board said.
The board also said it granted the hearing, in part, because of persistent rumors of Beach's innocence in his hometown and requests from people in Roosevelt County to look into it.
Board Chairman Vance Curtiss said the board took its time before reaching a decision.
“This was a difficult and involved case with extensive testimony and filings,” Curtiss said in a statement. “The board members carefully reviewed all the information and listened intently to witnesses before reaching our conclusions.”
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