Kenneth and Michael Thornton.jpg

Brothers Kenneth and Michael Thornton were convicted of rape, robbery and sodomy in 1984.

(Alabama Department of Corrections)

Two brothers who have been behind bars for 31 years in one of Birmingham's highest profile crimes - the 1983 gang rape of a young woman abducted from Baby Doe's Matchless Mine restaurant - were granted parole today.

Kenneth and Michael Thornton, now 57 and 53, were sent to prison in 1984 in the brutal attack of Wanda Jones Miller. She was taken to their Pinson home and, over seven hours, repeatedly raped and sexually tortured by seven men. Miller could identify only three -- ringleader Stanley Wilson and brothers Kenneth and Michael Thornton. Wilson died in prison in 2013 at the age of 53.

Ringleader Stanley Wilson died in prison in 2013.

For decades, Miller, one of the most well-known victim's advocates in the state and now a victim's service officer with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, has protested their release. But in a parole hearing this morning - with the Thornton brothers' sentence set to end in 2024, she gave her blessing for them to be set free. "I feel like this is the end of a long story. I'm Ok with it,'' Miller said in an exclusive interview with AL.com. "It was a decision I made that was my decision. People don't get sentences like that anymore and I've been able to help keep them in longer than most murder cases."

It was a hot August night in 1983 when Miller, a young real estate agent, and her then-husband attended a birthday party at Baby Doe's.

While she waited out front for him to bring the car around, three men pulled up. Stanley Wilson, a stranger to her, picked her up, shoved her into the car and then ripped off her clothes and raped her en route to Pinson.

They went to the home of brothers Kenneth and Michael Thornton, both of whom were in the car and took part in the abduction. Once there, her kidnappers led her through the home naked in front of a house full of partygoers. For seven hours, in a room with twin beds, Wilson, the Thorntons and four other men took turns raping her. Twice, Kenneth Thornton took her into the bathroom, got into the tub with her and made her take a bath.

Wilson finally drove Miller to Roebuck and dumped her. Miller was able to identify only Wilson and the Thorntons. ''Throughout the night, they seemed to be the faces I focused on, the faces I saw the most,'' she said in an earlier interview. "'They never would tell us the names of any other people.''

At trial, Wilson and the Thornton brothers claimed Miller had consented to the sexual activity. The jury didn't buy it. All three were convicted. Wilson was sentenced to life, the Thorntons to 40 years each.

Miller said before and during the trials, other women came forward with similar stories involving her attackers. ''This was not the first time they had done this,'' she has said.

Wanda Miller

But there was no evidence to try them and it was up to Miller then to help send and keep them away. ''We hoped my case would be enough to keep them,'' she said.

Keeping them there wasn't always been easy. In 1992, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the trio had to be retried based on jury selection issues. They eventually pleaded guilty.

Still, Miller continued the fight to keep her attackers behind bars, attending multiple parole hearings and filing a lawsuit in 2000 when the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles held a hearing without notifying her and granted parole to the Thornton brothers. Eventually the parole was stopped and the laws were changed. Every few years, they come up for parole, and each time Miller and her supporters have gone to Montgomery to fight their release. The last parole hearing was in October 2010. After hearing testimony from both sides, the parole board unanimously denied release and set 2015 as the next time they would come up.

Despite her many treks to Montgomery, Wednesday's mission was different. With their sentences set to be up in nine years, Miller wanted more control over the release. With this early release, they will have conditions to follow which they wouldn't have in nine more years.

"I have struggled since I was notified about how I felt at this point regarding the possibility of parole for the Thorntons," she wrote in a letter to Board of Pardons and Paroles, which she read aloud at this morning's hearing. "I knew without a doubt that it was a decision that only I could make but I knew I could not do it alone. I prayed for an answer that would finally give me peace and close this chapter of my life forever."

Miller said she has met the Thorntons' older brother, 65-year-old Thomas Thornton, at previous parole hearings. She recently found a telephone number for him and called him. "He has always been kind and respectful to me,'' she said. "I respect him greatly for the way he has always conducted himself and for being courageous enough to speak to me and express his sorrow over our circumstances."

Miller said she asked Thomas Thornton if he would be able to help his brothers with their reentry into society after 31 years in prison. "He assured me that he and his family would support them with living arrangements, job possibilities, and adherence to the Sex Offender registration requirements that would be part of their conditions,'' she said. "Mr. Thornton and I had both been praying for a conclusion. After our conversation, I felt my prayers for guidance in making the right decision had been answered."

"I also know that the Sex Offender Unit in the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office will be vigilant in making sure that they adhere to conditions set upon them,'' Miller said.

In Alabama, inmates do not attend their parole hearings. Several of the brothers' family members spoke at the hearing, as did former Jefferson County District Attorney David Barber. Barber said he supported Miller's plan. "I think there is a lot of wisdom in her thinking and I think in her circumstance, it was the right thing to do,'' he said.

The ultimate decision was up to the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and they decided to set them free. It will likely be January before the Thorntons are actually released from lockup. "I feel good about it,'' Miller said. "I don't feel like I've been shorted by the system at all. I'm just glad it's over."