Life sentences in 1993 Topeka death upheld
Published on -10/19/2012, 2:27 PM
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- The Kansas Supreme Court upheld two life sentences for a man convicted in 1993 execution-style slaying in Topeka.
The court on Friday rejected Jason Wade Schaeffer's argument that the Shawnee County judge who sentenced him was biased against him.
Schaeffer and Joshua Kaiser were convicted in 1994 of killing 33-year-old Timothy Riley, who was abducted from his home, forced into a car trunk and driven around before Schaeffer eventually shot him in the head.
While sentencing Schaeffer, Judge Thomas Conklin, among other things, called Schaeffer "grossly wicked" and said he wished he could impose a longer sentence.
The court called Conklin's statements excessive and ill-advised but said they were not enough to set aside Schaeffer's sentences.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports (http://bit.ly/VjTPHF ) a different judge gave Kaiser two life sentences.
