Five years ago Mona Lee Shelton, 46, and Donna Marie Cary, 45, were shot to death by Mickey David Thomas in a monument business in De Queen, Ark.
The pain of the crime resurfaced Friday for the women’s families after they listened to court-appointed attorneys ask for a new trial for Thomas.
After his trial was moved from Sevier County because of pre-trial publicity, a Pike County jury convicted Thomas on Sept. 28, 2005, for the murders of the two women and gave him a double-death sentence.
If his conviction is upheld, Thomas will be executed by lethal injection.
After Friday’s two-hour hearing, the husbands and families of the victims listened to former Prosecutor Tom Cooper and current Prosecutor Bryan Chesshir explain the legal process. Cooper said the state and federal appeal process may take another five years.
Eugene Shelton, the husband of Mona Lee Shelton, had difficulty trying to discuss the legal process. He was seen in court wiping tears from his eyes.
He spoke briefly to the Gazette, saying, “What I want to say, you couldn’t print. If you have children, you can understand this: God is now her dad.”
During the trial in 2005, Eugene Shelton said he was married to Mona for 30 1/2 years and described his wife “as the best person I ever met.”
Thomas petitioned for a Rule 37 Postconviction Relief, saying his initial three lawyers were ineffective in his trial and failed to provide him with the best defense.
Originally, Thomas was represented by Arkansas Public Defender Commission attorneys Lou Marczuk and Tammy Harris and Sevier County Public Defender Norman Cox. He was represented Friday by court-appointed attorneys Jeff Harrelson and Jason Horton.
The documents filed by Harrelson and Horton outline allegations from the voter registration used in Pike County to select the jury pool and if Thomas was mentally retarded.
The Arkansas Supreme Court, in a 7-0 vote, upheld the conviction in the first appeal process in May of 2007. The court issued a 19-page ruling saying “no reversible error exists ... and no reversible error has been found.”
Retired Ninth Judicial District Court Judge Ted Capeheart conducted Friday’s hearing and asked the attorneys to submit their findings by Dec. 7.
Chesshir said the judge will probably issue a ruling by the end of the year.
If the appeal is denied in Circuit Court, it will be appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court. If the state Supreme Court upholds the conviction, the sentence will then be transferred to the federal appeals process.
Thomas, wearing handcuffs and shackles, sat at the table with his defense attorneys.
He was also charged in the June 12, 2004, death of Geraldine Jones of Broken Bow, Okla., but he has never been tried in McCurtain County because of the Arkansas conviction. Jones was found on the floor of her bedroom with a belt wrapped tightly around her neck, according to previous news reports. She also had two arrows plunged into her left upper chest.
Cary and Shelton were murdered June 14, 2004, two days after the Oklahoma murder.
The Arkansas State Police have labeled Thomas as a “spree killer” with a motive of robbery.
The pain of the crime resurfaced Friday for the women’s families after they listened to court-appointed attorneys ask for a new trial for Thomas.
After his trial was moved from Sevier County because of pre-trial publicity, a Pike County jury convicted Thomas on Sept. 28, 2005, for the murders of the two women and gave him a double-death sentence.
If his conviction is upheld, Thomas will be executed by lethal injection.
After Friday’s two-hour hearing, the husbands and families of the victims listened to former Prosecutor Tom Cooper and current Prosecutor Bryan Chesshir explain the legal process. Cooper said the state and federal appeal process may take another five years.
Eugene Shelton, the husband of Mona Lee Shelton, had difficulty trying to discuss the legal process. He was seen in court wiping tears from his eyes.
He spoke briefly to the Gazette, saying, “What I want to say, you couldn’t print. If you have children, you can understand this: God is now her dad.”
During the trial in 2005, Eugene Shelton said he was married to Mona for 30 1/2 years and described his wife “as the best person I ever met.”
Thomas petitioned for a Rule 37 Postconviction Relief, saying his initial three lawyers were ineffective in his trial and failed to provide him with the best defense.
Originally, Thomas was represented by Arkansas Public Defender Commission attorneys Lou Marczuk and Tammy Harris and Sevier County Public Defender Norman Cox. He was represented Friday by court-appointed attorneys Jeff Harrelson and Jason Horton.
The documents filed by Harrelson and Horton outline allegations from the voter registration used in Pike County to select the jury pool and if Thomas was mentally retarded.
The Arkansas Supreme Court, in a 7-0 vote, upheld the conviction in the first appeal process in May of 2007. The court issued a 19-page ruling saying “no reversible error exists ... and no reversible error has been found.”
Retired Ninth Judicial District Court Judge Ted Capeheart conducted Friday’s hearing and asked the attorneys to submit their findings by Dec. 7.
Chesshir said the judge will probably issue a ruling by the end of the year.
If the appeal is denied in Circuit Court, it will be appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court. If the state Supreme Court upholds the conviction, the sentence will then be transferred to the federal appeals process.
Thomas, wearing handcuffs and shackles, sat at the table with his defense attorneys.
He was also charged in the June 12, 2004, death of Geraldine Jones of Broken Bow, Okla., but he has never been tried in McCurtain County because of the Arkansas conviction. Jones was found on the floor of her bedroom with a belt wrapped tightly around her neck, according to previous news reports. She also had two arrows plunged into her left upper chest.
Cary and Shelton were murdered June 14, 2004, two days after the Oklahoma murder.
The Arkansas State Police have labeled Thomas as a “spree killer” with a motive of robbery.