Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

U.S. Supreme Court Declines Adair County Death Row Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up the case of a Kentucky death row inmate awaiting execution for the slaying of three people in Adair County in 1993. The high court on Monday issued its decision without comment on the appeal brought by 39-year-old William Harry Meece.

A jury condemned Meece to death for the 2006 of killing veterinarian 50-year-old Joseph Wellnitz; his 40-year-old wife, Beth; and their 20-year-old son, Dennis, in Adair County.

Prosecutors said Meece and the Wellnitz's daughter, Meg Wellnitz Appleton, contrived the murder plot to collect a $550,000 inheritance. Police charged Meece after more than a decade after receiving a tip.

Appleton pleaded guilty in January 2005 to complicity to murder. Meece denies taking part in the attack.