In Kenton County, Circuit Judge Douglas Stephens followed...

In Kenton County, Circuit Judge Douglas Stephens followed the Jury's recommendations and sentenced Fred Furnish to death for a 2nd time for the July 25, 1998 robbery and murder of Ramona Jean Williamson. Furnish was convicted in 1999 of strangling and robbing the 66-year-old widow. But in the time between her murder and Furnish's conviction, the General Assembly created the penalty of life in prison without possibility of parole. The Kentucky Supreme Court overturned Furnish's sentence in 2002 and granted him a new sentencing hearing, to include the new penalty. While on death row in 2002, Furnish pleaded guilty to the 1997 strangling murder of Doris Bertsch, 70. for that crime Furnish is serving a life sentence. It was an unusual end to an unusual trial in Stephens' courtroom. Normally, a judge sets formal sentencing several weeks after the jury verdict to give officials time to compile a pre-sentence report. But Furnish and his attorneys, noting that Stephens already knew Furnish's history, waived that period and requested an immediate sentence.