A man convicted of stabbing another man in the neck in Salem in 1980 was granted parole this week by the Massachusetts Parole Board in a unanimous decision.

John Almon stabbed Paul Legere twice during a confrontation on March 13, 1980, and Legere died from his wounds a week after the incident. Almon was convicted of first-degree murder that October, following a jury trial in Essex Superior Court.

First-degree murder convictions in Massachusetts carry automatic sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole, meaning Almon was initially not eligible for release. But the state’s Supreme Judicial Court last year struck down such sentences, deeming them unconstitutional for emerging adults — those between 18 and 20 years old.

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