Staff File Photo by Angela Lewis
Bradley Waldroup watches people enter the courtroom after a break in his sentencing hearing at the Polk County Justice Center in this 2009 photo. He was found guilty of manslaughter in the 2006 killing of Leslie Bradshaw.Tennessee’s high court sent a 2006 Polk County murder case back to the appeals court, likely ensuring the defendant cannot claim that his due process rights were violated.
Bradley Waldroup Jr. was sentenced in 2009 to 32 years for the shooting and machete-slashing death of Meigs County resident Leslie Bradshaw and for nearly killing his estranged wife, Penny Waldroup.
Prosecutors sought a conviction of first-degree murder, but the jury found Bradley Waldroup guilty of voluntary manslaughter, especially aggravated kidnapping and attempted second-degree murder.
Tenth Judicial District Judge Carroll Ross sentenced Waldroup to 20 years for the kidnapping, 12 years for the attempted murder and six years on the manslaughter charge.
The Court of Criminal Appeals denied Waldroup’s appeal in March 2011. He then sent his request to the Tennessee Supreme Court, which ruled in an opinion released Tuesday that a set of decisions earlier this year changed the rules on how juries should consider kidnapping when other felony charges are involved.