Tillman to get new sentencing

Utah's oldest death-row inmate will get another chance to fight for his life.

A unanimous Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court's ruling vacating Elroy Tillman's death sentence. At age 70, Tillman is Utah's oldest and longest-serving death-row inmate.

Tillman was convicted of capital murder for the May 26, 1982, bludgeoning of Mark Schoenfeld and has been scheduled to die at least four times, the latest date being Oct. 12, 2001. The death sentence was stayed, however, after his attorneys claimed prosecutors failed to turn over key evidence to defense attorneys at trial.

The withheld transcripts, which took 18 years to surface, consisted of 50 pages of transcripts from polygraph interviews between former Salt Lake police Sgt. Kenneth Thirsk and Carla Sagers. Sagers was Tillman's accomplice and the state's key witness.

Third District Judge Leslie Lewis vacated the death sentence two years ago, ruling that the withheld evidence violated Tillman's right to a fair trial and ordered a new sentencing hearing.

The evidence contained in the withheld transcripts "tends to undermine the credibility of Sagers, unquestionably the most important trial witness," Justice Matthew Durrant wrote in the court's opinion — its third ruling in the case in nearly 20 years.

"If the suppressed transcripts had been available to Tillman, he could have more effectively countered the prosecution's attempts to add Sagers to the list of his victims," Durrant wrote. "That ability may very well have been the difference between life and death."

The Utah Supreme Court agreed with Lewis that the information would have been enough to make at least one juror question the extent of Tillman's involvement in the Schoenfeld murder.

Defense attorney Loni F. DeLand said he spoke with Tillman on the phone Tuesday morning and informed him of the legal victory.

"He's pleased," DeLand said. "He felt it was the right decision. Let's quit wasting the taxpayers' dollars and get on with this."

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said his office disagrees with the court's decision, but added he will most likely not appeal to a federal court.

Assistant Attorney General Erin Riley said the transcripts contained no new information and has changed nothing.