SAN DIEGO -- The transient who is a suspect in the slaying of a 13-year-old Escondido girl was released from prison.

Richard Raymond Tuite (pictured, left) was released Tuesday to a halfway house in Northern California, 10News reported.

Tuite had been serving a three-year sentence for an attempted burglary conviction in 1998 unrelated to the Stephanie Crowe murder case. He has been in and out of prison four times within the past year, having been returned to custody three times on parole violations.

Crowe (pictured, right) was found fatally stabbed in her bedroom at her family's home in January 1998. Her teenage brother and two of his friends were originally charged with the crime.

Charges against Michael Crowe (pictured, left) and the other two teens were dropped when DNA testing revealed that blood on a sweatshirt Tuite was wearing on the night of the crime belonged to Stephanie.

The 32-year-old man had also been spotted by witnesses near the Crowe home around the time of the slaying.

Escondido police eventually turned over the investigation into the murder to sheriff's homicide detectives.

Recently, San Diego District Attorney Paul Pfingst transferred the Crowe case to the state Attorney General's Office.

Sheriff's detectives are now working with David Druliner, the attorney general's chief trial counsel, to solve the case.

Tuite, who has not been charged in connection with Stephanie's murder, maintains his innocence.