BOZEMAN — Barry Beach, the man who spent 30 years in prison for a murder he says he didn’t commit, will soon finish the commuted probationary sentence issued by a former Montana governor who once argued for his lifetime imprisonment.

Speaking on Sept. 18 at a three-day conference presented by Montana Free Press, Beach said his 10-year probationary sentence , issued by former Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock in 2015, was ending soon.

“The notification came out this morning on the Victim Information Network that Barry Beach is about to be released from probation,” he told an audience at Montana State University. The announcement drew applause. VINE, as the network is known, indicates that Beach’s probation ends Nov. 17.

Beach, who turns 63 this year, was sentenced in 1984 to 100 years in

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