
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, June 25, 1990                   TAG: 9006250310
SECTION: VIRGINI                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

SUPREME COURT TURNS DOWN APPEAL OF CONDEMNED KILLER

A Virginia death row inmate who killed a deputy sheriff in an escape attempt lost a Supreme Court appeal today.

The court left intact a ruling that Wilbert Lee Evans' rights were not violated when he was resentenced to death after his original death sentence was overturned.

Evans was convicted of fatally shooting William Truesdale on Jan. 27, 1981, while the deputy was escorting him from a North Carolina prison to testify in Alexandria, Va.

Evans said he didn't intend to kill Truesdale but that the gun went off accidentally in their struggle.

Prosecutors said Evans deliberately killed the deputy in a planned escape.

by CNB