Parole Unlikely This Year for Murderer

There appears to be little chance of parole this year for Zachariah Chiaia, who was 18 when he helped beat a homeless man to death at a downtown park.

Chiaia, 27, is serving a second-degree murder sentence of 15 years to life for the 1993 attack.

Salinas Valley State Prison officials have written to the parole board, saying he “poses a serious threat to public safety.” Their reports list more than a dozen incidents of misconduct. Two co-defendants who were 14 at the time of the crime and were prosecuted as juveniles are now free.