ALBUQUERQUE (June 27, 2007) -- When they decided whether convicted killer
Stanley Bedford would live or die, 12 jurors split their votes right down the middle, one of them told KRQE News 13.
The jurors returned their verdict against a death sentence at about 3 p.m. after a day of deliberations. The same jury last week convicted Bedford on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of
Odis and
Doris Newman of Portales.
They were found in the trunk of their burned car in 2005.
The death-penalty phase of the trial, essentially a separate trial with witnesses and arguments by opposing attorneys, took five days. A unanimous verdict by the 12 jurors was required to impose capital punishment.
Instead Bedford was immediately sentenced to 120 years in prison. The Bedford's nephew, Jerry Fuller, cut a plea deal in the burglary and killings and testified against Bedford.
He was earlier sentenced to 127 years in prison.
After the final verdict, jurors told KRQE News 13 it's been a long month with some saying ruling on the death penalty was the hardest decision of their lives.
One juror who voted for execution said the vote split 6-6 on putting Bedford to death.
We asked what the hardest part of the trial was for her.
"The last stage, the whole sentencing, it's not something that you take lightly," the juror said. "It's obviously not something you think ‘oh, yeah, or no.'
"It's something that you need to think about."
