The Alabama Board of Parole and Pardons did the right thing on Monday by denying early parole for two co-conspirators in Shelby County’s worst crime.

Michael Ellison and David Collums pleaded guilty in the 1997 Chandalar subdivision quadruple-slaying.

This week, just seven years after the murders, Collums and Ellison appeared before the parole board with pleas for early release.

Pelham Police Chief Allan Wade investigated the murders and protested the early parole. Wade still doubts the testimony of Ellison, who is up for parole again next June.

Wade said the murder plot was hatched in Ellison’s bedroom; Ellison drove his truck to the scene of the slayings. Collums also participated.

Members of the Shelby County community should remember what happened that day seven years ago.

Mark Duke and Brandon Samra sit on Death Row for killing four innocent people, with the help of Collums and Ellison.

Law enforcement officials still talk about the graphic crime scene, in which the killers cut the throats of two little girls after they ran out of bullets.

These criminals deserve long prison sentences, not sympathy