BELLVILLE - Lori Campbell hopes this parole decision is the last time anyone will consider releasing her father's murderer.

The Bellville woman is the daughter of Los Angeles police officer Ian Campbell, who was kidnapped and murdered on March 9, 1963. The case exploded on the national scene after author Joseph Wambaugh chronicled the crime in his best-selling book, "The Onion Field." The piece was adapted into a motion picture, starring Ted Danson as Campbell, and James Woods as killer Greg Powell.

On Wednesday, the California Board of Prison Terms panel found the 76-year-old Powell unsuitable for parole after a hearing at the California Men's Colony at San Luis Obispo.

Lori Campbell is the daughter of Ian Campbell, a policeman whose killing became the subject of the book and movie "The Onion Field." (Photo: Dave Polcyn)

"Enough is how I feel," said Lori Campbell, a nurse who works in Columbus. "If they let this man go then they are dishonoring every officer killed in the line of duty, including my father and setting a precedent for further release of cold-blooded murderers.

"What message would that send to criminals as well as to the officers that lay their life on the line daily to 'serve and protect?' It cannot happen."

Lori was 2 years old at the time, and has little to no memory of her father. Her older sister, Valerie Campbell Moniz, was on the cusp of her fourth birthday. Moniz was traveling when the family sent word of the parole board's decision.

"I will just say that I am very happy about (the) decision and still unhappy with how little rights we as victim's families have," Moniz said. "I still just wish that we didn't have to deal with parole hearings at all, it makes it so there never seems to be any end."

It was Powell's 11th parole hearing, and Campbell said her cousin attended the meeting.

This may have been Powell's last chance for parole.

Deputy District Attorney Alexis De la Garza said the denial's duration would be for three years. De la Garza said Powell told board commissioners John Peck and Randy Kevorkian he has terminal prostate cancer and would like to be released before he dies.

"I've done enough time. I'm a different man and I'm ready to be paroled," De la Garza quoted Powell as saying. The Campbell daughters have little patience for that argument.

"I'm relieved there finally might not be another hearing," Lori Campbell said. "The next one is in three years, and God willing he won't live that long.

"Val said something about some plea he can make for terminal illness ... I'll fly out for that one. It may not happen, and I pray it does not."

Powell and co-defendant, Jimmy Lee Smith, kidnapped Campbell and his partner, Karl Hettinger, in Hollywood during a routine traffic stop. They drove north to a Bakersfield onion field where Campbell was shot five times by Powell and possibly Smith, although that detail has never been clear. Meanwhile, Hettinger escaped by running into the onion field. He was haunted by that night for the rest of his life, shunned by his colleagues, and died in 1994 at the age of 59.

Within hours Powell and Smith were arrested, and later sentenced to die. They were spared the gas chamber when the California Supreme Court temporarily overturned the death penalty in the 1970s. Smith was paroled in 1982, a decision which drew public outrage at the time. He was in and out of jail for various parole violations over the next 25 years, and eventually died in prison on April 9, 2007 at age 76.

De la Garza said Powell chose not to discuss details of the crime during the hearing.

Los Angeles Police Department officer Cliff Armas read Moniz's statement at the hearing.

"I grew up without a father because of the act of a sociopath. ... Gregory Powell must spend the rest of his life in prison. To release him dishonors the memory of my father, law enforcement and the Los Angeles Police Department."

Armas is a member of the Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipe and Drum Band, a group which honors the memory of Campbell, who had a passion for playing the bagpipes. Lori Campbell has her father's bagpipes, made famous in the movie.

As the result of his death, Armas said the bagpipes are played at the funerals of every officer who dies in the line of duty.

"I want to spend my time remembering my father, meeting people like this Cliff Armas who wants to resurrect an award to reward future pipers for their accomplishments, and at the same time honor my father's memory," Lori Campbell said.

"I don't want to waste (time) on emotions involving parole hearings, and repeatedly watching the effect it has on the family."