Killer Granted Stay While Court Reviews His Case

The Idaho Supreme Court has issued an order blocking the execution of a man convicted of murdering two elderly Downey residents in a robbery.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued a stay in the execution of James Hairston for an automatic review.

Last week, 6th District Judge Peter McDermott denied Hairston’s petition for post conviction relief and ordered him executed at 10 a.m. Sept. 17.

Idaho laws call for an automatic review of any death penalty case by the Idaho Supreme Court.

Hairston, 20, of Grand Junction, Colo., argued for another trial, saying he had inefficient legal representation during his trial. He was convicted of the Jan. 6, 1996, murders of Duke and Dalma Fuhriman, both age 72, at their Downey home.

Trial testimony indicated Hairston and Richard Klipfel, 27, also of Grand Junction, got $30, a credit card and a saxophone from the robbery. Klipfel was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for his part in the crime.

Hairston contended that his public defenders in the murder trial, Randy Schulthies and Tom Eckert, had no experience with death penalty cases.

The original trial was held before McDermott who imposed the death penalty on Hairston in November 1996.

McDermott said then it was a hard decision to impose the ultimate penalty, but he believed Hairston was a cold-blooded, pitiless killer who would kill again if paroled from prison or if he escaped from a less than secure prison setting.

“You basically executed these two individuals to be financially rewarded,” McDermott told Hairston.