Parole Again Denied for Tulare Woman Who Murdered Husband in 1987 for Financial Gain
At a virtual hearing on March 14, 2023, TCDA prosecutors secured a three-year denial of parole for June Gravlee, age 68, for the 1987 murder of her husband. Gravlee is currently serving a life sentence at the California Institution for Women in Corona.
In 1990, Gravlee was convicted of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of murder for financial gain. In the penalty phase of the trial, the Tulare County jury recommended a death sentence. However, the trial judge at the time modified the verdict to a penalty of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Her sentence was again modified in 2018 when former Governor Brown commuted her sentence to life, the reduction of which made her eligible for parole.
June Gravlee and her husband Andrew Gravlee were married in October of 1986. At the time of the marriage, Andrew was 35 years her senior. On July 17, 1987, at their home in Tulare, Gravlee and her brother Gary Smith stabbed and beat Andrew, killing him. The pair wrapped his body in a tarp and drove him in his pickup to a ravine in the hills near Kettleman City, where they buried him. For the next few months, Gravlee collected her husband’s pension and social security checks, and even applied for additional benefits. Gravlee explained her husband’s absence by telling people he had left town suddenly.
In late 1987, Andrew’s family became suspicious that they had not heard from him. Tulare Police Department officers began an official investigation in 1988 and questioned Gravlee, who eventually told officers that it was her brother who killed her husband. On June 14, 1989, Andrew’s body was discovered with stab wounds to the back and chest, and severe blunt force trauma to his head determined to be caused by strikes with a ball-peen hammer. Smith pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years-to-life in prison. He was granted parole in 2013 after serving 24 years.
“As I said after Ms. Gravlee’s first parole hearing in 2019, despite a Tulare County jury listening to the evidence and deciding death was the appropriate punishment, both a former Tulare County judge and former Governor Brown showed the defendant far more compassion and leniency than she did to her victim,” said Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward. “I applaud the Parole board for not finding her suitable for parole, but this case is a prime example of why we must have truth in sentencing in California.”
This was Gravlee’s third parole hearing. At the hearing, commissioners noted her lack of insight into the facts of the case.
The District Attorney’s Office routinely attends life parole hearings and a supervising deputy district attorney argued against inmate’s release in this case.
Media inquiries can be directed to the Office of the District Attorney, County of Tulare Assistant District Attorney Dave Alavezos (559) 636-5494