Karlen wants early release for 1988 crime

MERCER, Pa. — A woman in prison for arson after serving time for her role in the murder of a Thiel College graduate wants a new sentence that would shorten her prison stay.

A judge from Mercer County Common Pleas Court has denied her that chance, and she is appealing his ruling to the Pennsylvania Superior Court.

Linda Karlen, now 56, was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison in September 1993 after pleading guilty to arson in the burning of her furniture store in Greenville in May 1988.

She began serving that sentence, the maximum, in Pennsylvania in 2005 after serving 15 years in an Ohio prison for conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the murder of Roger “Butch” Pratt in June 1988.

For the complete story, see Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com