PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
The state Supreme Court has denied another appeal for a former Sequim resident now on death row.
Darold Ray “DJ” Stenson still faces execution for the March 25, 1993, shooting deaths of his wife, Denise Stenson, and their friend Frank Hoerner at the Stensons’ Sequim-area exotic bird ranch.
In a 7-2 decision issued Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court rejected Stenson’s latest appeal on the grounds that it didn’t present new evidence and it raised issues that the court thought should have been brought up in earlier appeals.
Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly said prosecutors are pleased with the court’s decision.
“I hope that matters proceed in such a way as to bring closure to the victims’ families sooner rather than later,” she said.
“We’re disappointed,” said Seattle attorney Sheryl Gordon McCloud, who is representing Stenson.
The case is not over yet. A petition challenging the constitutionality of Stenson’s conviction and death sentence is still pending before U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Peckman, said McCloud.
Stenson, who turned 52 on Wednesday, was convicted and sentenced to death in Clallam County Superior Court in 1994 for two counts of premeditated first-degree murder with aggravating circumstances for the deaths at his home south of Sequim.