Tennessee Supreme CourtNASHVILLE -- The Tennessee Supreme Court on Friday upheld the death sentence of a man who killed an elderly couple near Land Between the Lakes after he escaped from a Kentucky prison.
William Eugene Hall was convicted of first-degree felony murder for his role in the 1988 killings of Buford and Myrtle Vester. The couple was found shot and stabbed outside their home, and their car and other belongings were missing.
Hall was one of eight inmates who escaped from the Kentucky State Penitentiary on June 16, 1988. Five of the escapees stole a pickup truck and drove over the state line into Tennessee and began a series of burglaries. Hall was later captured in Texas, and he and two other escapees were convicted of killing the Vesters.
Hall filed his delayed appeal on numerous grounds, including one that claimed that new evidence discovered after his conviction proves that he is innocent.
Hall, James Blanton and Derrick Quintero were all sentenced to death for their role in the Vesters' murders. Blanton has since died in prison. But two death row inmates condemned in other cases came forward and said that prior to his death in 1999, Blanton admitted that he alone killed the couple and Hall and Quintero were not with him.
"From all appearances, the defendant has simply attempted to take advantage of Blanton's death in order to manufacture an alternative defense which, if true, could have been presented at trial," Justice Gary Wade wrote in the opinion.