HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A local man serving time in prison for the murder of another man is scheduled to have a parole hearing next month.
Roy McClanahan was convicted of first-degree murder for the shotgun killing of Michael Martin in the early morning hours of May 26, 1991. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years.
Martin was apparently seeing McClanahan’s wife after the two separated and was killed by a shotgun blast as he slept in a bed in the home of McClanahan’s ex-wife.
McClanahan, who’s now 69, had testified at his trial that he had been threatened by two men who he didn’t know, saying they would beat him up if he messed with his ex-wife and Martin. He claimed he didn’t intend to kill the victim and that he came to the home with the shotgun for protection. He says he flipped out when he saw his ex-wife coming out of the bedroom with no clothes on and putting on a robe. He says he noticed a bruise on her cheek and asked where it came from. He then pushed her out of the way and went into the dark bedroom where he says Martin grabbed the barrel of the shotgun and pulled him forward. The gun then went off.
Martin was killed instantly with the shotgun blast, destroying his heart, both lungs and part of his liver.
McClanahan goes before the parole board next month and if his parole is approved, he could be released from prison in March.