Appeals Court Upholds Conviction Of Man Who Killed Family Of Three
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
A federal appeals court has upheld the death
sentence of a man convicted in the slayings of three family members
in Pope County.
Danny Lee was convicted of the deaths in what federal
prosecutors said was part of a white supremacist plot to overthrow
the government. Also convicted was Chevie Kehoe, who drew a
sentence of life in prison.
The Eighth U-S Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis ruled today
that the death penalty was not arbitrarily imposed in Lee`s case.
The appeals court also ruled that the federal death penalty is
constitutional.
Lee was convicted in May 1999 in the deaths of Tilly gun dealer
William Mueller, his wife Nancy and her eight-year-old daughter
Sarah Powell in January 1996.
Their bodies were found in a backwater of Illinois Bayou north
of Russellville. A jury recommended the sentences for Lee and
Kehoe.
