Will Brian M. McCarthy ever go free?
Possibly. And maybe sooner than you might think prudent for someone who brutally beat, strangled, and sexually assaulted Katherine “Katy” Hawelka but who now claims her 1986 death was an accident. It was a consensual fling that ended with a single slap, if you believe the story he’s peddling to the New York State Board of Parole.
The board didn’t buy it. Not completely. Not yet.
After his latest parole hearing on April 29, 2025, the commissioners gave him his ninth denial — but also a glimmer of hope. For the first time, they shortened his wait. Instead of making him sit for two more years, they gave him 18 months. In November 2026, he’ll get another shot at a hearing.
One of the commissioners wanted to wait until April 2027. The other two said no. They called him a liar but handed him a faster turnaround anyway, despite a written decision that reads like a rebuke:
“During this interview, you stated that the victim either initiated or agreed to a sexual encounter with you after minimal conversation at that time. You remember striking her once. We did not find your description of the event credible. It does not comport with the record, most notably the devastating injuries that the victim suffered leading to her untimely death.”
They added that, while McCarthy expressed remorse at the hearing, his lack of details about the encounter and the attack “lead us to believe that you lack full insight into your actions and your rehabilitation is not complete.”
Still, they’re rewarding him with an earlier shot. So maybe the truth isn’t the point anymore — not even when his lack of candor raises the obvious issue that someone who lies to the board is likely to do the same to a parole officer supervising him were he to ever hit the streets.
And here’s the kicker: The state released a transcript of the hearing, and it looks like somebody took a Sharpie to it after five shots of espresso. Whole sections — including discussions of his prison disciplinary record and accomplishments, family support, his actions prior to the attack, and job prospects if released — have been blacked out. It even omits Katy's name, the location of her murder, and some details of McCarthy's adult criminal record. The public in most cases has to take the state's word the redactions are necessary to avoid compromising safety or violating privacy or making somebody look bad.
If some bureaucrat is just following a list of required things to redact, then maybe the list needs to be changed.
The redactions don’t just obscure basic facts. They block the public from assessing whether the parole process is fair, consistent, and accountable.
For Katy’s family, who’ve shown up to deliver impact statements before every hearing, the redactions also make it far harder for them to continue to hold McCarthy accountable for what he's told the commissioners. How do they point out his lies and exaggerations that happen to be in sections the state blacked out?
What’s left is a process that looks less like justice and more like a rigged game — with the house quietly tilting the odds in the killer’s favor.
You can download the hearing transcript and decision with this link:
