Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 27, 1995 TAG: 9509270045
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: HILLSVILLE LENGTH: Short
Thomas Jefferson Midkiff claimed that his confession to authorities several days after the murders should not have been admitted at his week-long trial in 1993, but the court disagreed.
Commonwealth's Attorney Greg Goad, who prosecuted Midkiff, said Tuesday that he was pleased the court found the confession had been admitted properly, "which has been my contention all along." The court's opinion was unanimous.
Midkiff has now exhausted all his state appeals possibilities.
A jury convicted him of two first-degree murder charges and a charge of arson in the deaths of Sheila Marie Ring, 30, and her daughter, Jasmine Sutphin, whose bodies were found in the ashes of their home near Woodlawn. In addition to the two life terms, he was sentenced to 10 years and fined $15,000 for the arson conviction.
About a month after Midkiff's trial, Circuit Judge Duane Mink reinstated a suspended five-year sentence from Midkiff's 1986 conviction on charges of attempted rape, kidnapping and wounding a woman with a knife. Midkiff received three concurrent 10-year sentences on each charge at that time, with half the time suspended. He had been released from prison Jan. 30, 1989, and was still on probation at the time of the 1991 murders.
by CNB