A state appeals court overturned the death sentence...

A state appeals court overturned the death sentence of William A. "Corky" Snyder convicted in a triple slaying, saying the jury received improper instructions. The appeals court, in a 4-0 decision, agreed with Snyder's contention that the trial judge did not adequately instruct the jury before allowing testimony about his prior conviction on 2nd-degree theft of property charges. Snyder was sentenced to death for the August 1995 murders of Dixie Gaither, 72; her son, Carey M. Gaither, 45; and his girlfriend, Nancy Burkhalter, 37. Snyder argued that the trial judge improperly refused to allow him to introduce evidence that he claimed showed another person committed the murders.