Court Rejects Shorter Sentence for Man Serving Life Sentence
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Supreme Court has denied a request for a reduced sentence made by a man found guilty of killing his ex-wife and her boyfriend.
The Lewiston Tribune reports that the court last week denied 54-year-old Dale C. Shackelford's two petitions for post-conviction relief. Shackelford in 2000 was convicted of shooting Donna Fontaine and Fred Palahniuk to death in the northern Idaho town of Kendrick in 1999. He was sentenced to death.
However, the U.S. Supreme Court later ruled that juries, not judges, must hand down death sentences. At a new sentencing hearing Shackelford received two life sentences without parole. Shackelford in his petition contested the fixed life sentences. But the Idaho Supreme Court said a sentence of life in prison without parole didn't exceed statutory sentencing limits.