Salt Lake City, USA - The Utah Supreme Court on Friday unanimously refused to grant a new trial to death-row inmate Ron Lafferty in the grisly slayings of his sister-in-law and niece.
The 66-year-old Lafferty, who slit the victims' throats in a religiously motivated slaying, now can appeal in federal court.
Lafferty was convicted of the murders of sister-in-law Brenda Wright Lafferty and her 15-month-old daughter, Erica. According to investigators, the killer claimed he had received a "removal revelation" from God that targeted four people, including Brenda and Erica.
The killer - brother of Brenda's husband, Allen Lafferty - allegedly believed that the four had somehow either helped his ex-wife obtain a divorce or played a part in his excommunication from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In a petition for a new hearing filed in 4th District Court, Ron Lafferty claimed numerous grounds for reversal of his conviction and death sentence, including an allegedly erroneous finding that he was mentally competent. Lafferty argued that a forensic psychologist disavowed the theory he used to determine that he was able to aid in his defense and could be tried.
The Utah Attorney General's Office disagreed that the psychologist had decided his theory was invalid in every case and said Lafferty was mentally competent. Fourth District Judge Anthony Schofield denied Lafferty's petition in November 2005, leading to an appeal and the Supreme Court's decision on Friday upholding the denial.
Prosecutors say Lafferty's brother, Dan Lafferty, forced his way into the victims' American Fork home on July 24, 1984, and Ron Lafferty followed him inside a few minutes later. Two friends waiting outside in a car heard fighting and Brenda pleading for her child's life.
Allen Lafferty found his wife and daughter dead with their throats cut when he returned home later.
Ron and Dan Lafferty, members of a polygamous cult called School of the Prophets, were convicted in separate trials of the murders. Dan was spared the death penalty, while Ron was sentenced to die.
Dan Lafferty, who was convicted and sentenced first, later testified at his brother's trial that he alone slit Brenda's throat. However, one of the friends in the car outside the home said Ron Lafferty admitted killing his sister-in-law. The Utah Supreme Court's decision states that Dan also slit the baby's throat.
A federal appeals court overturned Ron Lafferty's conviction in 1991, ruling the trial judge used an incorrect legal standard in finding him competent.
He was retried in 1996, found guilty by a 4th District jury and again sentenced to death.
Lafferty chose to die by firing squad, rejecting the alternative of lethal injection.