Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 18, 1995 TAG: 9507180097
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser ruled Monday that Stockton's case does not meet a test of ``actual innocence'' needed to rehear the case.
Stockton was convicted in 1983 for the 1978 murder of Kenneth W. Arnder, 18. Arnder's body was found near Mount Airy, N.C. He had been shot in the head, and his hands were hacked off above the wrists.
Prosecutors said Stockton killed Arnder in Patrick County, then moved his body to North Carolina. No physical evidence linked Stockton to Arnder or the murder to Virginia, and no weapon was found.
A witness, Randy G. Bowman, testified at Stockton's trial that he heard Stockton agree to kill Arnder for $1,500. Prosecutors were able to seek the death penalty because of Bowman's claim the death was a contract killing.
Kiser's ruling came three months after Bowman said in a newspaper interview that he did not hear Stockton agree to a murder-for-hire deal.
Kiser wrote that Stockton had not proved ``that it was more likely than not that no reasonable juror would have convicted him in light of the new evidence.'' Kiser said that Bowman lacked credibility, but added that the jury was already aware of Bowman's credibility problems during the trial.
by CNB