BOSTON (AP) - A Massachusetts judge was just doing her job when she freed a convicted killer now charged with murdering a newlywed couple, the chief judge of the state Superior Court said Monday in a case that has become enmeshed in the presidential campaign.

Republican Rudy Giuliani has cited the case to criticize former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's record on crime. Romney, who appointed the judge, has called on her to resign.

On Monday, Chief Justice Barbara Rouse said Judge Kathe Tuttman applied the law to the facts that were before her when she made the decision to free Daniel Tavares Jr.

"Today, unfortunately, she is living every judge's nightmare: that a principled decision based on the law and the information provided to her was followed by tragic events over which she had no control," Rouse said in a statement.

In June, Tavares completed a 16-year sentence for manslaughter for killing his mother, but prosecutors tried to keep him in prison for alleged assaults on two prison guards.

A district court judge approved bail of $50,000, but in July, Tuttman overturned the decision and freed Tavares on personal recognizance.

Tavares, 41, fled to Graham, Wash., and was arrested last week for allegedly shooting to death Brian Mauck, 30, and Beverly Mauck, 28, who lived near him.

Tuttman, who had an 18-year career as a state prosecutor before becoming a judge, has become a hot topic on the presidential campaign trail.

While still incarcerated in Massachusetts, Tavares threatened to kill Romney and other state officials in a letter that was intercepted by prison officials in February 2006, Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said.

Massachusetts State Police suspected Tavares might be living in Washington state, and based on the earlier threat against Romney, warned him before his scheduled campaign appearance there last week, Fehrnstrom said.

But Det. Ed Troyer with the Pierce County Sheriff's Office said local authorities never received a warning.

"Obviously, we don't expect political candidates to go around notifying us about prisoners out here, but there should be someone out there that should be held accountable to have notified us, the same way they notified him," he said.

In response to Rouse's defense of Tuttman, Fehrnstrom said in an e-mail: "Gov. Romney appointed Judge Tuttman based on her long record both as a prosecutor and as an advocate for victims. Judge Tuttman's entire experience as a prosecutor suggested she would be a law and order judge. Her actions in this case are inexcusable."

During the hearing before Tuttman, prosecutors underscored Tavares' history of violence and asked that if he were to be released, he be monitored with a GPS device.

Tavares' attorney, Barry Dynice, told the judge that corrections officials waited more than a year - until shortly before he was due to complete his manslaughter sentence - to refer the assault allegations to prosecutors in an attempt to keep Tavares in prison.

Dynice added Tavares had no history of failing to show up for court.

The judge declined to order a monitoring system, saying she was presented with no evidence that he was a flight risk. She ordered him freed on the condition that he call probation officers three times a week, live with his sister and work.

"It is the court's view that Mr. Tavares has wrapped his sentence on the underlying offense. He doesn't have a history of any defaults on his record. And there is no indication before the court based on the representations of counsel and the record before me that he is a risk of flight, other than the nature and circumstances of the charges," Tuttman said, according to a transcript of the hearing.

The Maucks were found dead on the morning of Nov. 17, in the living room of their home about 16 miles south of Tacoma, with three close-range gunshot wounds to each of their heads. Court documents say Tavares told police he shot the couple after Brian Mauck insulted him when he tried to collect a $50 debt.

Tavares has pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated first-degree murder, a charge that carries a penalty of death or life in prison without parole. He was ordered held without bail. The Pierce County prosecutor has 30 days to decide whether to seek the death penalty.

Tavares' wife, Jennifer Lynn Tavares, 37, has been charged with rendering criminal assistance, a gross misdemeanor. She pleaded not guilty and posted $5,000 bail.