USA - Mississippi. The state Supreme Court has thrown out the death sentence of Roger Gillett

The Miss. Supreme Court has thrown out the death sentence handed down to Roger Gillett and ordered him re-sentenced. Gillett, 40, White, was sentenced to death on Nov. 3, 2007 (see) in Forrest County for his role in the March 20, 2004 deaths of his cousin Vernon Hulett and Hulett’s girlfriend Linda Heintzelman and the transporting of their bodies to Kansas in a freezer. While in custody in Kansas, he attempted to escape. That crime was one of the aggravating factors prosecutors presented jurors to support the death penalty. The Supreme Court, in its 6-3 decision, says not every escape is considered a crime of violence under Kansas law. Therefore, the Kansas crime cannot be used to support a death sentence in Mississippi.