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Robert McCain, age 60, will be allowed to be released as early as Tuesday, Aug. 3, said the state Department of Corrections and Supervision.
McCain, who killed 16-year-old Paula Bohovesky in Rockland County, had an interview with the Board of Parole the week of June 21 and was granted an open date with the earliest release date of August 3. McCain will be under community supervision for life, the department added.
Lois Bohovesky, Paula's mother, said on Friday, July 2, she is "so worn out" from the news and "very upset."
"It's not surprising, but I'm not happy," she added.
Paula Bohovesky, an honor student and aspiring actress, was beaten, sexually assaulted, and stabbed to death on Oct. 28, 1980, in Pearl River by McCain, and Richard LaBarbera, 66.
LaBarbera, a former Pearl River resident, was granted parole a year ago this week and is under community supervision in New York City.
Both men had been convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life.
The crime took place around 7 p.m. in the small hamlet of Pearl River when Paula, who was only a block from her parent's home, when the two men, who had been drinking at the High Wheeler bar, saw her walk by the area.
According to court accounts of the crime, McCain walked up to Paula and crushed the right side of her skull with a chunk of brick he had picked up from the ground. He then dragged the young teen behind an abandoned house and sexually assaulted her, as LaBarbera watched.
When McCain was finished, LaBarbera, thinking that Paula was dead, attempted to sexually assault her, authorities said. But during the second attack, she stirred and he pulled out a knife and stabbed her five times in the back, killing her.
Lois Bohovesky said she now has to wait until August to find out where McCain will be living and to have a picture of what he looks like: "It's really hard."
Rockland County Executive Ed Day is urging the parole board to make sure McCain can't come to Rockland County.
"Robert McCain, the initial assailant of Paula Bohovesky, is a monster who does not deserve to walk free on our streets while our community still suffers from the loss and pain he caused. He committed murder, a crime of permanency, and should be permanently in jail," Day said in a statement.
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