Kimberly LaBore is shown in court in 1998 in Santa Cruz. (Tarmo Hannula/Pajaronian file)

Kimberly LaBore, who has spent more than two decades behind bars for her part in a 1998 robbery and killing—and who was sentenced to 62 years to life for the crime—has been granted parole.

Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017 commuted that sentence to a 20-year minimum.

She was denied parole in 2021, but the parole board granted it on Oct. 23 at the Central California Women’s Facility, where she has been incarcerated.

LaBore was 27 at the time she and Sean Patrick Petznick, James Dotson and Gabriel Banes killed 58-year-old Gaylord “Kelly” Chilcote on Nov. 17, 1998.

Chilcote was the owner of Valley Heights Senior Community on Freedom Boulevard in Watsonville that is still in operation.

Labore’s accomplices are still behind bars.

Prosecutors say the quartet invaded Chilcote’s Interlaken home, where they tied him up and then tortured and bludgeoned him before stabbing him to death.

The assailants stole cash, traveler’s checks, jewelry and watches. LaBore and Dotson fled to Florida, where they were later arrested after a shootout with police.

Investigators say that Dotson, 25 at the time, and LaBore, 26 at the time, also killed 22-year-old Eric Cupo after they invited him to stay at an abandoned Boulder Creek house in which they were staying. There, they reportedly beat and stabbed Cupo to death and stole his gun.

Previous articleStudio Judy G in Watsonville to close
Next articleWatsonville cuts ribbon on Greg Caput community room
Tarmo Hannula has been the lead photographer with The Pajaronian newspaper in Watsonville since 1997. More recently Good Times & Press Banner. He also reports on a wide range of topics, including police, fire, environment, schools, the arts and events. A fifth generation Californian, Tarmo was born in the Mother Lode of the Sierra (Columbia) and has lived in Santa Cruz County since the late 1970s. He earned a BA from UC Santa Cruz and has traveled to 33 countries.

7 COMMENTS

  1. She should never have been released. Let’s hope it’s not to Watsonville. I remember her horrible crimes. Crimes like she and her friends committed should have meant life in prison with no chance of being set free.

    • Please sign me up for the newsletter - Yes
  2. Not only is she and her accomplices murderers, she had a shootout with police. She has no safety switch and will engage with law enforcement. The parole board should be fired immediately and her parole be reversed. It’s a high matter of pubic safety.

    • Please sign me up for the newsletter - No

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here