Self-described ‘mountain man’ in 1984 killing is released
MISSOULA, Mont. — Self-described “mountain man” Don Nichols was released on parole Wednesday after serving 32 years for kidnapping a world-class athlete out on a training run in 1984 and killing her would-be rescuer — an attack that drew widespread media coverage and became the subject of a made-for-TV movie.
Nichols, who must report to a parole office in Great Falls, was granted parole in April, The Missoulian reported https://goo.gl/sRx9AZ .
Nichols, 86, was sentenced to 85 years in prison for kidnapping biathlete Kari Swenson in the mountains near Big Sky and killing Alan Goldstein, a friend helping to search for Swenson when she failed to return home from her run.
Swenson, who was 22, said she was chained up during her ordeal and spotted her would-be rescuers before her abductors did. She yelled at them to leave because Nichols had threatened to shoot anyone who tried to help her.