The Alabama Supreme Court denied two Covington County defendants’ petitions for certiorari writ seeking an appeal of their verdicts by the Supreme Court on Friday February. 10.
In the first case, James Benton Horn sought the review of the high court following his conviction in the 2018 killing of Bruce Wayne Nelson. In the second case, Zhanna Shaye Bolling sought a review to overturn her conviction for the murder in 2019 of Charles Edward Foster.
In Horn’s case in Horn’s instance, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has previously affirmed that conviction back in the summer of 2022. Horn was found guilty in the month of May 2021 for murder, arson in the second degree as well as first-degree criminal mischief. The evidence at trial revealed that Horn was found guilty of shooting Nelson twice, then stabbed his body four times, the next day, he set his body, his home, and vehicle in fire. Horn was later seen leaving the scene, and then feigned shock when police were able to contact him the next morning. Horn denied involvement in the crime, but he claimed to have observed two black males in the Nelson’s house. When executing a search warrant at the home of Horn officers found items from Horn’s clothes that showed evident blood staining. The clothing items were sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences to be tested for DNA, and the blood was found to similarity to Bruce Nelson.
Horn is currently serving two life sentences and 20 years of prison time, in the Alabama Department of Corrections at Bibb County Correctional Facility.
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals confirmed Bolling’s convictions in an Order of October 2022 and rejected her request for a hearing in December 2022. The petition she filed in the Supreme Court followed. The jury found Bolling in the month of October 2021. The evidence in the trial revealed Bolling and Foster were in a relationship. Foster Bolling and Foster Bolling were involved in a romantic relationship. Foster and Bolling were involved in a fight on the 5th of April 2019 and Bolling took Foster’s rifle. After a brief battle with the rifle Foster was shot twice in the shoulder and another time on the wrist. Bolling then took over and fired Foster to the side of the head. After multiple operations, including the removal from his eyes, Foster eventually passed away from the injuries six months after.
Bolling has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder. She is currently detained at Tutwiler Prison within the Alabama Department of Corrections. She is also being held in prison for second degree promotion of contraband in prisons in a case that preceded the murder.
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals in an opinion issued on Friday, confirmed Charles C. McCrory’s conviction in 1985 in the death of his wife Julie Bonds McCrory. The Court stated that McCrory’s most recent appeals to reverse his conviction on the basis of new evidence didn’t satisfy the legal requirements for him to be entitled to relief. This decision was made the day following McCrory was denied parole for the second time. McCrory is currently serving an indefinite sentence, and will not be parole eligible until 2028.
“I want to express my gratitude to each of the investigators from every agency and department who worked on these cases as well as to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office for its efforts in appeals. I would like to see these rulings provide closure and resolution to the cases of families of the victims. Additionally, I am happy that all three defendants will remain where they are supposed to be locked up and separated from society. Each of these rulings gives me and my staff an energy boost to keep working as we know that justice will prevail,” Covington County District Attorney Walt Merrell said.
The article two Covington County defendants have been denied a review of their convictions was first reported at The Andalusia Star-News.
