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Man convicted in 1973 double murder denied parole for 21st time

Photo: Getty Images

By Live 5 Web Staff | October 28, 2020 at 3:49 PM EDT - Updated October 28 at 3:53 PM

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - The man who has spent more than 45 years in prison for the murder of two teenage girls on Folly Beach will remain behind bars after being denied parole Wednesday.

Richard Valenti, now 77, was convicted for the 1973 killings of 14-year-old Sherri Clark and 13-year-old Alexis Latimer.

He was unanimously denied parole, S.C. Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole spokesperson Anita Dantzler said. It was the 21st time he was up for parole and denied, she said.

Police said Valenti, a former sailor, kidnapped the girls on Folly Beach and took them to his home on East Arctic Avenue where he put nooses around their necks in a shower stall, kicked their chairs out from under them and watched them die. Authorities discovered their remains 10 months later in shallow graves on the beach.

Valenti was convicted and sentenced to two life terms. At the time, the law required that Valenti serve only ten years in prison before being eligible for parole.

Authorities said he confessed to killing a third teen, Earline Bunch, and was also charged with attacking five more young women, but never went to trial on those charges.

Copyright 2020 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Photo: S.C. Department of Corrections
Photo: Live 5 News
Photo: Live 5 News

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