Post by SoulTrainOz on Jul 8, 2006 1:24:02 GMT -5
A man tried 5 times for the slaying of an Ozark woman 15 years ago was sentenced Thursday to death by lethal injection.
The sentence came after a Cass County jury in March found the man guilty of 1st-degree murder and recommended the death sentence.
This was the 3rd time a jury recommended execution for Walter Barton, 50, for the 1991 killing of Gladys M. Kuehler, 81. She was manager of Riverview Mobile Home Park in Ozark.
After 2 mistrials, Barton was convicted and sentenced to death in 1994.
But in 1996, the Missouri Supreme Court ordered a new trial, saying the trial judge improperly blocked part of the closing argument by the defense attorney.
The 4th trial took place in 1998 in Warsaw, and Barton, for the 2nd time, was convicted of 1st-degree murder and sentenced to death.
In 2004, the death-row inmate was granted the 5th trial through a procedure called a post-conviction relief motion.
On Thursday, Judge Joseph Dandurand overruled a motion for a new trial from Barton, said John Fougere, spokesman for the Missouri Attorney General's Office.
Fougere said his office believes the death sentence is "appropriate for this terrible crime" and the office will see to it that the sentence is carried out.
(source: News-Leader)
The sentence came after a Cass County jury in March found the man guilty of 1st-degree murder and recommended the death sentence.
This was the 3rd time a jury recommended execution for Walter Barton, 50, for the 1991 killing of Gladys M. Kuehler, 81. She was manager of Riverview Mobile Home Park in Ozark.
After 2 mistrials, Barton was convicted and sentenced to death in 1994.
But in 1996, the Missouri Supreme Court ordered a new trial, saying the trial judge improperly blocked part of the closing argument by the defense attorney.
The 4th trial took place in 1998 in Warsaw, and Barton, for the 2nd time, was convicted of 1st-degree murder and sentenced to death.
In 2004, the death-row inmate was granted the 5th trial through a procedure called a post-conviction relief motion.
On Thursday, Judge Joseph Dandurand overruled a motion for a new trial from Barton, said John Fougere, spokesman for the Missouri Attorney General's Office.
Fougere said his office believes the death sentence is "appropriate for this terrible crime" and the office will see to it that the sentence is carried out.
(source: News-Leader)