Senate Bill 1199 will be named after, Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman, the 16-year-old girls who disappeared in 1999. Senator Micheal Bergstrom intends to use the legislation as a vehicle to add accessory to murder to the 85% violent crimes list. That requires convicted offenders to serve a minimum of 85% of their sentence before they can be considered for parole.
“This piece of legislation is incredibly important to me as one of the victims, Lauria Bible, was a student of mine. I know how difficult this entire case was for the family, for the community, from the murder of the Freemans, the girls’ kidnapping, and now more than two decades without being able to bury these girls, without the final answers,” Bergstrom said.
Bergstrom is running the Lauria and Ashley’s Law measure in response to one of the only remaining suspects in the case being released from prison this year.
“No family should have to face what the Bible and Freeman families did as they saw one of the few people who may have information on the girls’ whereabouts walk free,” Bergstrom said. “Those who are involved in murders should be held responsible and serve their time, not have their sentence slashed because they behave in prison. I will continue advocating for Lauria, Ashley, and their families, as well as other Oklahoma families, as this bill makes its way through the legislative process.”
