Bryan Lankford wins parole

Thirty years after he was convicted of a double murder in the Idaho County wilderness, Bryan S. Lankford is set to be released from prison.

Lankford, 55, is scheduled to be released from a maximum security facility in Boise on Oct. 24, 2018, according to a decision announced Friday by the Idaho Commission on Pardons and Parole.

Parole board Executive Director Olivia Craven said additional details on the board's decision will be available in the next few days, pending the resolution of matters related to the case.

Lankford was convicted in Idaho County for the 1983 murders of U.S. Marine Capt. Robert Bravence and his wife, Cheryl, of El Paso, Texas.

Lankford and his brother, Mark Lankford, were originally sentenced to death in 1983 for bludgeoning the Bravences to death and hiding their bodies in the Idaho County backcountry, where they were discovered three months later. The brothers took the Bravences' Volkswagen van and spent the couple's money and credit cards on a trip to California. They abandoned the vehicle there and returned to their home state of Texas, where they were apprehended by law enforcement.

Mark Lankford was convicted twice for the crimes, once in 1983 and again in 2008, after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the initial verdict and ordered a new trial. He is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Bryan Lankford's sentence was eventually reduced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after the U.S. Supreme Court decided Bryan Lankford and his attorney were not sufficiently notified the death penalty was being pursued. In 2000, the parole board ordered Bryan Lankford spend at least 15 more years in prison, citing a robbery conviction in Texas and threats he made to prison guards and fellow inmates.

While he has recanted his original testimony twice, Bryan Lankford testified again in 2008 that his brother was the one responsible for killing the Bravences. At the same trial, Mark Lankford pointed the finger back at his brother.

Mark Lankford is currently awaiting a judge's decision on whether or not he will be tried a third time, based upon new evidence his brother presented at an August hearing.

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Brown may be contacted at dbrown@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2278. Follow him on Twitter @DylanBrown26.