Killer May Face Third Death Sentence

If convicted killer Mitchell Rupe is sentenced to death for a third time, he probably won’t live long enough to be executed, his defense lawyers say.

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Paula Case on Tuesday ruled that prosecutors can again seek a death sentence for Rupe, who reportedly suffers from terminal liver disease.

Casey denied motions by defense lawyers to cancel Rupe’s sentencing hearing and automatically impose a life sentence.

Casey also denied motions to move the case out of Thurston County and to release information held by prosecutors about the location of witnesses.

Rupe, 43, was convicted of two counts of aggravated first-degree murder for killing Tumwater bank tellers Twila Capron and Candace Hemmig during a robbery in September 1981.

Higher courts twice set aside death sentences imposed by two separate juries. After federal appeals were exhausted last February, the case was returned to Thurston County Superior Court for another sentencing.

Rupe made national headlines when he argued in 1994 that at 400 pounds, he was too heavy to hang.