by Audrey Thomasson
RICHMOND—A Lancaster man convicted of the 1985 murder of Mary Keyser Harding recently was granted parole, according to Lancaster County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jan Smith.
Emerson Stevens was convicted in 1986 and sentenced to 169 years in prison. He is incarcerated at Greenville Correctional Center and is expected to be released to another locality after May 18.
Last December, the Innocence Project of the University of Virginia School of Law filed a motion for habeas corpus, claiming unlawful detention.