Summary of Offense:
Was convicted and sentenced to death in Alabama in 1998 in connection with the December 1997 murders of two convenience store clerks in separate incidents.
On December 4, 1997, John Gregory entered the Dukes Parkway Shell gasoline service station in Foley and discovered Nancy Dukes behind the counter on her knees with her arms and face in a chair. She had been stabbed numerous times, but she was still breathing. Gregory called for help, but Dukes died before the paramedics arrived. The coroner testified that Dukes had been stabbed approximately 40 times and that she died as a result of those injuries. There was testimony that between $400 and $600 was missing from the cash register.
On December 14, 1997, Van Gardener discovered Linda Morton's body lying face down on the floor behind the counter at the Diamond Gas Station and Convenience Store in Foley. The coroner testified that Morton had been stabbed six times and that she died as a result of those injuries. An audit of the cash register revealed that it was $934.00 short.
On December 16, 1997, the investigation focused on Stallworth, and police discovered that Stallworth was wanted for a probation violation. Police picked Stallworth up for the probation violation, questioned him about the two murders, and obtained a search warrant to search his fiancée's home, where he was living. Police seized a hooded jacket that had blood on the inside of one of the sleeves. DNA testing revealed that the blood on the jacket matched Dukes's DNA. The search of Stallworth's fiancée's house also revealed a serrated kitchen knife under the mattress. Experts testified that the knife was the same type of knife used to kill both Dukes and Morton.
Stallworth gave several statements to police—each of which varied in some detail. Stallworth admitted that he was at the scene of both robbery/murders, but he denied killing either Dukes or Morton. Stallworth also admitted that he had removed the VCR from the Diamond store because, he said, he knew the videotape would show him in the store. Stallworth said that he took the VCR to a trail behind the Diamond store and he used a hammer to open it and destroy the tape. Stallworth also told police that he found a bag of money on the trail and that he took the money and left.
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/al-court-...s/1649311.html
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