Woman's life sentence reduced, up for parole

(Fox 25/MyFoxBoston.com) - Massachusetts’ highest court ruled that a mentally ill Palmer woman, who had previously been sentenced to life in prison for killing her husband by running him over with a minivan, may now be eligible for parole.

The supreme judicial court reduced the conviction of Starleen Rutkowski to second degree murder yesterday.

The SJC said the judge did not make it clear that jurors could consider evidence of mental impairment when deciding if the murder was committed with extreme atrocity or cruelty.