A man who has served more than 28 years in prison for the 1977 murder of a young woman on Maui has "completed his debt to society" but can't be considered for parole unless state corrections officials enroll him in a work furlough program, Hawai'i Paroling Authority members said yesterday.

Randall Krause, 56, was called a "model inmate" by the parole board chairman, and Krause's lawyer said the inmate has now spent more time behind bars than 38 other men convicted for the same crime.

But Krause is still behind bars, defense lawyer David Bettencourt said, because the family of the murdered girl, Ann Craddock, has "friends in high places" in state and Maui country government, including Gov. Linda Lingle and state House representative Cynthia Thielen, who have worked behind the scenes to block parole consideration for Krause.

Lingle spokesman Russell Pang said yesterday, "We don't have any information about that. The Parole Board makes those decisions."

Thielen could not be reached for comment, although she told The Advertiser several years ago that she had an interest in the Krause case because she knew both the victim and her parents.

"I knew Ann Craddock as a young girl. She used to play with my nephew in Newport Beach," Thielen said in 2005.

Roger Craddock, the father of the victim, would not discuss the parole hearing when reached at his home yesterday in Los Angeles.

Ann Craddock was a junior at the University of California, Los Angeles spending the summer of 1977 at a Maui hotel job when she disappeared. Her car was found several days later near Ka'anapali, but Craddock's body wasn't recovered until the following year, buried 20 miles away in a shallow grave at Ma'alaea.

The remains were found after Krause told a prison inmate in Alaska that he had killed Craddock and drew a map showing the location of the grave. Maui prosecutors argued that Krause, who maintained his innocence throughout the trial, beat Craddock to death with a rock over a $400 debt. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1979.

Krause, who is being held at a Mainland prison, participated in yesterday's hearing via videoconference connection.

"I am responsible for killing Ann," Krause said.

He said that if he had the opportunity to speak with members of her family, "I would say that I am sorry. I would say that not a night goes by that I don't think about what I did. I can never bring Ann back. There's nothing more that I can say except that I am sorry," he said.

At yesterday's hearing, Maui Deputy Prosecutor Benjamin Acob opposed parole for Krause, saying he "beat the victim to death in his rage" and is "too dangerous a person to be released into the community."

Krause "has the ability to influence people by lying" and can't be rehabilitated because "he hasn't accepted full responsibility" for his crime, Acob said.

Krause and Bettencourt both said the inmate was allowed by prison authorities for years to deliver speeches to youth groups and other community organizations while incarcerated on the Big Island, O'ahu and in Texas.

But Bettencourt said that practice was stopped after the Craddock family learned of it and objected.

The Paroling Authority originally set Krause's minimum term of imprisonment — the length of time an inmate must spend in prison before being considered for parole — at 35 years, then later lowered it to 30 years.

In 2004, the three-member board voted to lower the minimum to 26 years, but that decision was revoked. Board member Edward M. Slavish resigned in 2005 under pressure from Lingle because of accusations that he had not fully disclosed past personal ties to Krause's father, Rudy Krause.

Krause's minimum sentence was later reset to 28 1/2 years. He will have completed that term in April.

Krause has made arrangements with New Hampshire parole authorities to be released to that state, where he would live and work with an aunt and uncle.

But Paroling Authority members Albert Tufono and Roy Reeber yesterday told Krause he must first complete a Hawai'i work furlough program meant to help long-term inmates transition back into society.

Tufono noted that the Paroling Authority can't order prison authorities to place Krause in a work furlough program.

Calling Krause "a model inmate," Tufono said, "We're going to encourage the Department of Public Safety to bring you back (to Hawai'i) and put you in a work furlough program."

Parole board member Reeber said the board "does believe you have completed your debt to society, but we're concerned about your transition."

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.