Death row inmate loses appeal in Sylacauga murder

William Kuenzel

A state court ruled Monday that Death row inmate William Kuenzel waited too long to file his latest appeal.

Kuenzel, who was sentenced to death more than 25 years ago for the 1987 murder of Sylacauga convenience store clerk Linda Jean Offord, sought to overturn that conviction on the grounds that a key witness in the case said one thing to a grand jury and another in the trial.

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Kuenzel waited too long to press that claim.

Kuenzel, , was convicted in 1988 of capital murder. Prosecutors said he killed Offord with a 16-gauge shotgun during a late-night robbery of Joe Bob’s Crystal convenience store.

Kuenzel's roommate, Harvey Venn, testified that he waited in a car while Kuenzel went in to rob the store. Venn served 10 years in prison for his role in the robbery.

Kuenzel's lawyers challenged the conviction in state court on the grounds that in Alabama, a person can't be convicted of a capital crime solely on the basis of an accomplice's testimony.

Another witness, April Harris, told jurors in 1988 that she recognized Kuenzel and Venn at the store when riding past in a car about an hour before the killing. In 2010, Kuenzel's lawyers unearthed grand jury testimony that showed Harris saying she "couldn't make out" who was in the store.

The inmate brought an appeal in federal court, and saw it rejected there. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Then he brought it back to the state appeals court. In their ruling, judges noted that appeals based on new evidence have to be brought six months after the evidence is discovered.

David Kochman, Kuenzel's attorney, said he would apply for a re-hearing of the case, and if denied, would try to take the matter to the Alabama Supreme Court.