Kuenzel receives stay from Supreme Court

William Ernest Kuenzel

Death row inmate William Ernest Kuenzel will live long enough to attend his appeal hearing.

In a one-page order Wednesday, the Alabama Supreme Court issued a stay of execution “pending further orders of this court” for Kuenzel,  who was convicted of capital murder in the 1987 death of Linda Jean Offord, a Sylacauga convenience store clerk.

Before the stay was issued, Kuenzel had been set for execution March 19. That was more than two weeks before the April date a state appeals court set to hear his appeal.

Kuenzel has long maintained his innocence, saying he wasn't in the convenience store at the time of the shooting. No fingerprint or blood evidence connected Kuenzel to the crime, but a co-defendant, who testified in exchange for a lesser sentence, identified Kuenzel as the assailant.

In addition to his capital murder conviction, Kuenzel also pleaded guilty to attempting to bribe a witness to provide him with an alibi in the case.

Kuenzel’s lawyer, David Kochman, declined comment on the stay Wednesday, saying he didn’t want to discuss the case before the appeal hearing.