Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 23, 1995 TAG: 9509250036
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOE JACKSON LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The ruling came three days after Stockton's attorneys filed affidavits by three witnesses alleging that Randy G. Bowman, the key prosecution witness in Stockton's capital murder case, was the actual killer.
The papers, filed Tuesday in the Virginia Supreme Court, said Bowman told two people that he killed 18-year-old Kenneth Arnder in July 1978. The affidavits were made by Patricia Ann McHone, Bowman's former wife, and by Kathy Carreon, his former friend. An affidavit by Timothy Crabtree, Bowman's son, said Bowman admitted killing a boy and disposing of the body with the help of friends.
The court's five-line ruling came late Friday without comment. ``On consideration of the pleadings filed in this case,'' it said, ``the Court is of opinion that the writ of habeas corpus should not issue as prayed for. It is therefore ordered that the said petition be dismissed and that the application for a stay of execution be denied.''
Anthony King, one of Stockton's lawyers, said he learned of the denial through a phone call from the federal court in Roanoke about 30 minutes before the Supreme Court closed. ``The Supreme Court didn't even give us the courtesy of a phone call,'' he said.
On Monday, Stockton will ask for an expedited hearing before that federal court. If that appeal is denied, last-minute appeals will be made to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond and then to the U.S. Supreme Court.
After that, Stockton's last chance lies with Gov. George Allen. On Thursday, Stockton's lawyers filed a clemency plea with Allen, who can commute Stockton's death sentence or pardon him.
Arnder was shot in the head, and his hands were hacked off above the wrists. His body was found near Mount Airy, N.C., but prosecutors said Stockton killed Arnder in Patrick County, then moved his body across the state line. In 1983, Bowman testified that he heard Stockton agree to kill Arnder for $1,500. The man who allegedly offered the deal was arrested but never tried.
In April, Bowman recanted that testimony to a reporter. A month later, after a visit by North Carolina and Virginia investigators, Bowman signed an affidavit claiming he never made that recantation.
As time runs out, Stockton said in an interview published Thursday in the Martinsville Bulletin that he's ready to die. He said the petition and court appeals bring him little hope.
The investigation of the allegations against Bowman apparently has stalled. North Carolina investigators have scheduled an interview early next week with McHone, the former wife, said Steve Rosenfield, Stockton's other lawyer.
James Crabtree, adopted father of 16-year-old Timothy Crabtree, said Friday that Virginia officials delayed interviewing the boy about his allegations until an undetermined time next week.
``If you ask me, I don't think it's going to happen,'' Crabtree said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
by CNB