Chillicothe, Mo. ? Faye Copeland, who was convicted along with her husband of killing five transients, has been paroled, a state official said Sunday night.

Department of Corrections spokesman Tim Kniest said Copeland was paroled on Friday because of a severe medical condition.

Copeland, 81, was serving a sentence of life without parole, but Kniest said state law allowed the parole board to release such inmates if they are terminally ill or have a medical condition that cannot be cared for in prison.

Copeland’s son, Al Copeland, said his mother suffered a stroke on Aug. 10 that left her partially paralyzed and unable to speak. He said she was staying in a nursing home now.

Faye Copeland was the oldest woman on death row until a federal court commuted her sentence in 1999. A judge in May 2001 sentenced Copeland to life without parole, rejecting her attorney’s request that she be released for the time she had already served.

“I think I’ve paid for what I did or what I knew,” she said at that hearing. “God will forgive me for anything I’ve said or done.”