Contact: Nathan Lederman 508-584-8120
NATICK – On Wednesday the state parole board granted parole to an adult man convicted of first-degree murder in commission of a 1987 armed robbery, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz has announced.
Michael Eagles, 59, is set to be released to Rhode Island and ultimately placed with his family under a home plan approved by the state parole board. DA Cruz testified against Eagles’ parole in January and urged the parole board to consider the effects of releasing Eagles on his victim’s surviving family members.
“The Jennings and Villaire families have endured decades of pain due to the callous actions of Michael Eagles and his co-conspirator. While the parole board says it considered their opposition to Eagles’ release when making its decision, they clearly did not give it the full consideration merited under the circumstances,” DA Cruz said following the parole board decision this week. “Michael Eagles is now set to be released and given the chance to live close to his loved ones. It is a fate undeserving for a man who ensured Lewis Jennings’ family would never be whole again.”
Eagles and co-defendant Jeffrey Roberio were found guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery by Plymouth County juries in 1987 in connection with the brutal slaying of 79-year-old Lewis Jennings of Middleboro.
On July 29, 1986, Roberio and Eagles concocted a plan to break into Jennings’ home and steal a large amount cash. During his hearing before the state parole board Wednesday, Eagles stated his motive for the robbery was to fuel his drug addiction. The pair broke into the Middleboro home and beat Jennings while demanding to know where he stored his money. Roberio and Eagles then proceeded to leave a badly injured Jennings to succumb to his injuries while they made off with the victim’s hard-earned money. An autopsy found Jennings’ spine had been fractured, an elbow had been dislocated, several ribs and neck bones had been fractured, and he suffered extensive injuries to his entire face.
The defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without possibility of parole. In 2024, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling in Commonwealth v. Mattis determined that life without parole sentences are unconstitutional as applied to “emerging adults” between the ages of 18 – 20. As a result of this decision, Eagles became eligible for parole even though he is an adult in the eyes of the law. Massachusetts is the only state in the country that allows this.
The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office will continue to fight for victims in all its cases, and will continue to oppose the release of violent criminals who have forever harmed those in our communities.