A federal appeals court has upheld the death sentence of a man convicted of killing two people at a general store in Central Kentucky nearly 40 years ago, while the state’s attorney general continues efforts to revive another death penalty case.
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected an appeal from David Sanders, who has been on death row since 1987 for the fatal shootings of two men at the Boone Variety Store in Richmond. The judges ruled 2 to 1 to keep Sanders’ death sentence in place after years of legal challenges.
According to prosecutors, Sanders entered the store, bought orange juice and candy, used a pay phone and left. He later returned with a gun and shot the store owner in the back of the head. When another customer entered the store, Sanders shot him as well.
Since his conviction, Sanders’ case has gone through multiple appeals, including four rulings from the Kentucky Supreme Court, three rejected reviews from the U.S. Supreme Court and a federal district court decision. Despite the latest ruling, an execution is not expected soon because Kentucky has not carried out the death penalty in more than 18 years.
Meanwhile, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman is asking the Kentucky Supreme Court to intervene in another long-running death penalty case involving Ralph Baze, who was sentenced to death about 30 years ago and remains on death row.
Coleman has urged Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to sign a death warrant for Baze, which would begin the process for the state’s first execution since 2008. Beshear, however, has said he cannot legally sign the warrant, citing concerns including the state’s lack of the drugs needed for lethal injection and the need for clearer execution protocols.
The dispute follows a long pause on capital punishment in Kentucky that began after legal challenges to the state’s lethal injection procedures. In 2010, a Franklin County judge halted executions, citing issues including protections for intellectually disabled inmates and changes to the execution process.
Coleman argues that updated regulations issued by the Kentucky Department of Corrections in 2024 resolved those concerns. After a lower court declined to order the governor to act, the attorney general filed a writ of mandamus asking the Kentucky Supreme Court to require action on the death warrant.
The state’s highest court has not yet set a date to consider the request.