Woman Denied Parole in 1997 New Milford Gang Rape, Murder

NEW MILFORD, CT -- The state's pardon board has denied early release to one of eight people serving time in prison for their role in killing teenager Maryann Measles in 1997, the News Times has reported.

Maggie Mae Bennett, in the waning weeks of a 19-year term in prison, was denied early release after the board heard from prosecutors and members of the victim's family.

The victim was 13-year-old Maryann Measles, who had been kidnapped, raped, beaten and drowned in Lake Lillinonah. Three men and five women were convicted and sent to prison for their role in the crime. Measles was the subject of a wide-scale search for six months before her body was found in the lake.

Measles had had sexual contact with the five men and was preparing to file statutory rape charges against two of them, and the men sought to silence her. The three women had become angry with and jealous of Measles because she had won their boyfriends' affections, according to the Hartford Courant.

Bennett is expected be released next year. She avoided the possibility of a lifetime behind bars when she agreed to assist in the prosecution of her co-defendants, as reported by The Republican American.