Infamous Montana ‘Mountain Man’ Denied Parole

DEER LODGE, Mont. (AP) — Montana officials have rejected parole for a notorious "mountain man" who abducted a world-class athlete in 1984 to keep as a wife for his son.

The Montana Board of Pardons and Parole made its decision Friday after Don Nichols told board members that they "don't have the courage to stand up to the media."

The 81-year-old Nichols then abruptly walked out of the hearing room with his prison escort.

It was Nichols' third parole hearing as federal authorities search for his son Dan, accused earlier this month of new drug and gun crimes.

The father-son duo abducted biathlete Kari Swenson while she was on a run in the mountains above the resort town of Big Sky. They shot her and left her to die and killed a would-be rescuer.