Convicted killer Forsyth waives parole hearing

A parole hearing for convicted murderer Jerry Forsyth of Kalispell will not be held until this spring.

The hearing initially was scheduled for Sept. 28, then shifted to Nov. 30.

Forsyth now has waived his hearing for at least six months, according to the Board of Pardons and Parole, making the next possible date sometime at the end of May.

This would mark Forsyth’s third parole hearing since he was sentenced in June 1986 to 110 years in prison for shooting and killing his wife, Karen (Kienas) Forsyth, in 1979 at their business, the Skyline Bowling Alley in Kalispell.

Forsyth stood trial three times for the murder. He was convicted in his third trial and sentenced to 110 years in prison.

Karen Forsyth was shot to death at the couple’s Kalispell bowling alley, where Forsyth was found with a superficial head injury. 

He said an intruder had shot his wife, knocked him out, and robbed their business.

However, an employee of the bowling alley, facing an unrelated charge, later testified that he and Forsyth had planned the murder, executed it and then covered it up.