BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the double murder conviction of Dale Carter Shackelford for the shooting deaths of his ex-wife and her boyfriend a decade ago.
In the unanimous ruling handed down Wednesday, the court said Shackelford’s convictions for first-degree murder, first-degree arson, conspiracy and preparing false evidence should stand.
The ruling clears the way for Shackelford to be resentenced for the May 1999 murders of Donna Fontaine and Fred Palahniuk in the tiny north-central Idaho town of Kendrick. Shackelford was originally sentenced to death for the crimes, but after his conviction a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a separate case found that juries, not judges, must determine if defendants are eligible for the death penalty. Shackelford’s resentencing was postponed pending his Idaho Supreme Court appeal.
