A convicted murderer who threatened to kill his victim's wife if he was ever released from prison was paroled Tuesday.

James A. Bush, now 53, was sentenced to die in 1975 after his conviction in the stabbing death a year earlier of Kirby Marshburn of Jacksonville. When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the death penalty in 1976, Bush's sentence was commuted to life in prison.

After 33 years in custody, Bush walked away from Davidson Correctional Center a free man Tuesday morning.

"It is still unbelievable to me that in this state, one can go from death row to possible release from prison," Senior Assistant Onslow County District Attorney Ernie Lee wrote in one of his numerous letters opposing Bush's parole every year since Bush was first eligible in 2000.

Bush's release is the result of his participation in the Mutual Agreement Parole Program, said Mary Harrop, a spokeswoman for the Post Release and Parole Commission.

MAPP is designed to prepare selected inmates who were sentenced prior to 1994 for release through structured activities, vocational courses and participation in community-based programs, according to the N.C. Department of Correction.

"Although I was not the prosecuting attorney in the Bush case, this case rates as among the most horrendous, senseless murders I have dealt with in this county," Lee wrote in letters to the parole commission opposing Bush's early release. "Under no circumstances should this brutal, cold-blooded murderer be released back into society."

Bush, a Marine at the time, stole a car aboard Camp Lejeune and crashed it in a ditch near Marshburn's Jacksonville home. Bush walked to Marshburn's home and asked to use the telephone even though he walked passed a payphone and had change in his pocket, according to court documents.

In court, Bush said Marshburn told him "a #### boy down the street has a wrecker."

Bush, who is black, told the court the remark made him angry and he stabbed Marshburn, who was white, from behind.

Marshburn was stabbed 14 times, according to autopsy reports.

Marshburn's wife, Eva Marshburn, arrived home from work and walked in on Bush killing her husband. Bush tied her up with phone cord he had cut from the wall and threatened to kill her if she ever testified against him, court records state.

Bush ransacked the house, took Marshburn's wallet from his pocket as the 65-year-old man lay dying. Bush left Eva Marshburn tied up to watch her husband bleed to death, according to court records.

Eva Marshburn died in 2004 at the age of 92. "She lived with the memories of seeing her husband murdered for 30 years," Lee wrote in a 2005 letter opposing Bush's parole.

Attempts by The Daily News to locate Bush or contact the Marshburn family members were unsuccessful.

In 1987, a federal judge ordered a new trial for Bush due to an error in jury instructions. Bush was convicted again of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Lee wrote in a letter to the Parole Commission that Bush "was sentenced to death and deserved to die in the gas chamber of this state. If the decision were left to me and the law so allowed, I would return him to death row."

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Contact crime reporter Lindell Kay