BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - Lawyers for a man on federal death row for abducting and killing a Vermont woman in 2000 are arguing this week that some jurors either misled lawyers about their backgrounds or engaged in questionable conduct.
The lawyers are asking for a new trial or a reduced sentence for Donald Fell, who was convicted of the abduction killing of Terry King of North Clarendon.
Fell’s lawyers are targeting three jurors who took part in the trial, the Burlington Free Press reported (https://bfpne.ws/1gFUaNk ). Prosecutors reject the allegations the jurors did anything wrong.
Fell was found guilty and sentenced to death for the killing of King, who was abducted when she arrived for work at a Rutland supermarket. She was later killed in New York state.
Fell and his co-defendant, Robert Lee, abducted King shortly after killing Fell’s mother and her boyfriend in her Rutland apartment, authorities said. No state charges related to that killing were filed and Lee died in prison in 2001.
Witnesses were expected to testify through Thursday.
Vermont doesn’t have the death penalty, but Fell was tried, convicted and sentenced to death under federal law.
Fell is incarcerated at a federal prison in Terry Haute, Ind. His case is the first death penalty case tried in Vermont in almost half a century.
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Information from: The Burlington Free Press, https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com
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