Governor again reverses Parole Board decision for Royce Elliott Casey convicted of murder in 1997
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. – Parole has been denied for the second time for Royce Elliott Casey who was one of three people convicted in 1997 for the first-degree murder of 15-year-old Elyse Pahler.
California Governor Newsom sent a letter to the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office on Mar. 11 notifying them of his office's decision to reverse the parole board's decision to release Casey stating, "I find the evidence shows that he [Casey] currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released".
This was the second time the Governor's Office has reversed the Parole Board's recommendation in this case.
In Jul. 2021 the Governor's Office reversed a Mar. 2021 decision in favor of releasing Casey noted the Governor's latest letter reversing the Board's decision.
On Dec. 19, 2023, Assistant District Attorney Eric J. Dobroth wrote a letter to the Governor's Office urging the second reversal.
"I am grateful for and want to thank Governor Newsom for carefully evaluating the facts and circumstances of Elyse M. Pahler's horrific murder committed by Royce Casey and his two accomplices and reviewing Royce's present-day mental state. I am pleased with the Governor's conclusion that agreed with my office’s evaluation that Casey continues to pose an unreasonable danger to society if he were to be released from prison at this time,” explained San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow.
Casey, and two accomplices, 16-year-old Jacob Delaschmutt and 15-year-old Joseph Fiorella, murdered the Arroyo Grande High School Freshman in what the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office describe as, "one of the most heinous pre-meditated murders committed in the history of San Luis Obispo County."
