The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has upheld the capital sentence of a death row inmate convicted nearly 40 years ago for a brutal double homicide at a Richmond, Kentucky general store.
On death row since 1987, David Sanders has lost repeated appeals in state and federal courts. His most recent appeal was rejected Tuesday by a 2-1 Sixth Circuit panel. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is one step below the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1987, Sanders, by his own admission, shot two men at the Boone Variety Store in Madison County, Kentucky. He walked into the store and purchased orange juice and candy. He used the store’s pay phone and left.
Moments later, armed with a gun he had retrieved from his car, he returned to the store. Sanders approached the store’s counter where the owner was standing with his back toward him. Sanders shot him in the back of the head.
When another customer entered the store, Sanders shot that man too. He took money from both men and then left. A customer walking in a short time later described a “horrific scene.”
Behind the counter, Jim Brandenburg lay slumped over. Near the door, Wayne Hatch was face down, gurgling in a pool of blood.
“Decades after a judge and jury sentenced this criminal to death, he continues to do all he can to delay his sentence. While these appeals may stall that sentence, they don’t erase the verdict and we are grateful for a ruling that clears the way for long-overdue justice,” said Attorney General Russell Coleman.
Assistant Attorneys General Kristin Conder and Stephanie McKeehan represented the Warden in this appeal.
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