MIDDLEBORO — A man convicted of first-degree murder after the fatal beating of a 79-year-old Middleboro resident in 1987 has been granted parole, a decision that angered Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz.

The state parole board granted parole on May 14 to Michael Eagles, 59, who had been found guilty of first-degree murder of Lewis Jennings of Middleboro while committing armed robbery, Cruz said.

Eagles and co-defendant Jeffrey Roberio were found guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery by Plymouth County juries in 1987 in connection with Jennings’ killing.

Eagles, 59, is set to be released to Rhode Island and ultimately placed with  his family under a home plan approved by the state parole board, Cruz said.

Cruz testified against Eagles’ parole in January and urged the parole board to consider the effects of releasing Eagles on his victim’s surviving family members. 

“The Jennings and Villaire families have endured decades of pain due to the callous actions of Michael Eagles and his co-conspirator,’’ Cruz said after the parole board’s decision. “While the parole board says it considered their opposition to Eagles’ release when making its decision, they clearly did not give it the full consideration merited under the circumstances.’’

Cruz noted that “Michael Eagles is now set to be released and given the chance to live close to his loved ones. It is a fate undeserving for a man who ensured Lewis Jennings’ family would never be whole again.” 

On July 29, 1986, Roberio and Eagles concocted a plan to break into Jennings’ home and steal a large amount of cash. Eagles told the parole board that his motive for the robbery was to fuel his drug addiction. 

He and Roberio broke into the Middleboro home July 29, 1986 and beat Jennings while demanding to know where he stored his money, according to the facts of the case. Roberio and Eagles then left a badly injured Jennings and fled with the victim’s money, a shotgun and other personal property, according to Roberio’s parole documents.

Jennings, who was also strangled with a pillowcase, died from his injuries. An autopsy found Jennings’ spine had been fractured, an elbow had been dislocated, several ribs and neck bones had been fractured, and he suffered extensive injuries to his entire face, Cruz said.

Eagles was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without possibility of parole. Those conditions changed in 2024, when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court determined that life without parole sentences are unconstitutional when given to those ages 18 to 20.

As a result of this decision, Eagles became eligible for parole because he was 18 at the time of the murder. Roberio, who was 17 at the time of the murders, was granted parole in 2020, at the age of 51.

Cruz said his office will “continue to fight for victims in all its cases, and will continue to oppose the release of violent criminals who have forever harmed those in our communities.’’