Roger Dale Epperson

Case name

Roger Dale Epperson

Background

Roger Dale Epperson (DOB 5-19-50) was sentenced to death June 20, 1986 in Letcher County for the murder of Tammy Acker.

The offence

Epperson and two accomplices entered the home of a Fleming-Neon, Kentucky physician on the night of August 8, 1985, and choked the man unconscious. While robbing him of $1.9 million, handguns and jewelry, they stabbed his daughter, Tammy Acker, to death.

Epperson also received a second death sentence for the murder of Bessie and Edwin Morris in their home in Gray Hawk, Kentucky on June 16, 1985. Roger D. Epperson, along with Benny Hodge, stabbed a female victim 12 times with a butcher knife during a robbery at her father's home in Letcher County in 1985. The victim's body was found with the butcher knife stuck through her chest and imbedded in the floor. Her father was strangled with an electric cord but he survived.

Investigation

Epperson and a co-defendant were arrested in Florida.

DNA tests from a hair found at the scene of a 1985 double-murder in eastern Kentucky did not match either of the two men on death row for the crime nor did it match the victims in the case. The test results were returned in January 1999, but were not given to defense attorneys for Roger Dale Epperson and Benny Lee Hodge until September. The results were at the center of efforts by Epperson and Hodge to overturn their death sentences and convictions.

Arrest

He was arrested in Florida on August 15, 1985.

Trial

Epperson and Hodge were convicted in June 1986 in Acker's death. Prosecutors said Epperson and Hodge, along with a third man, Donald Terry Bartley, broke into a physician's home on Aug. 8, 1985, and choked the man unconscious. Prosecutors said the three then stabbed Acker to death while stealing $1.9 million, handguns and jewelry.

Bartley pleaded guilty to his role in the crimes and was serving a life sentence.

Epperson and Hodge received second death sentences in November 1996 for the murders of Bessie and Edwin Morris.

Sentencing

Epperson was sentenced to death June 20, 1986 in Letcher County for the murder of Tammy Acker.

Epperson and Hodge received second death sentences in November 1996 for the murders of Bessie and Edwin Morris in their home in Gray Hawk, Ky., on June 16, 1985.

Appeals

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled in the case of Roger Dale Epperson and Benny Lee Hodge that the state must pay for witnesses to attend hearings for two death row inmates.

The ruling partially reversed a 2005 decision that the state wasn't required to pay the fees.

Justice John D. Minton Jr. wrote that the state should be required to pay for witnesses' expenses if the defendant raised an issue that couldn't be resolved without a hearing and the out-of-county witnesses' live testimony was necessary for a full presentation of the case.

"A ruling to the contrary would deprive those indigent post-conviction petitioners of their right to present fully their non-frivolous claims to the court," Minton wrote.

Justice Bill Cunningham, joined by Chief Justice Lambert and Justice Will T. Scott, said the trial judge should have discretion to use affidavits and other procedural aides in determining the need for the witnesses.

Cunningham questioned whether some of the witnesses would be able to provide mitigating evidence because the case went to trial 20 years ago.

"What value any of these state witnesses would have to mitigate, at this late date, such an atrocious crime, committed so long ago, makes me wonder," Cunningham wrote.
"This is not to mention the implausibility, if not impossibility, of defense counsel at trial in the distant past - or those called on his or her behalf - now being able to accurately recall why such witnesses were not presented, or even if counsel was ever made aware of them."

Allison Martin, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky attorney general's office, said:

"We disagreed with the arguments on appeal, but we are pleased that the court's opinion will allow these cases to move forward and bring closure for the victims' families."

Dawn Jenkins, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Advocacy, said:

"We are pleased that the court's opinion will allow these cases to move forward and bring closure for the victims' families."

"If someone does a really lousy job at trial ... in the past, we've not been able to get witnesses to the hearings," Jenkins said.

Hodge sought to bring 23 witnesses to a hearing about whether his attorney at trial failed to present mitigating evidence for jurors to consider before recommending a sentence. Hodge asked Special Judge Eddy Coleman to grant funds to bring 23 witnesses from Tennessee for a hearing. Coleman denied the request. The hearing on the performance of the attorneys for Hodge and Epperson had been on hold until the funding issue was cleared up.

During oral arguments in November, prosecutors argued that defense witnesses must show they cannot afford to travel to the hearing before being reimbursed for expenses. Minton rejected that argument, saying because prosecution witnesses don't have to meet that requirement, it shouldn't apply to defense witnesses either.

"Out-of-county witnesses called on behalf of indigent post-conviction petitioners are entitled to reimbursement in the same manner as are witnesses for the Commonwealth," Minton wrote for the court.

Outcome

Epperson and Hodge were awaiting execution for the June 1985 robbery and murders of Edwin and Bessie Morris in their home in Gray Hawk.

Other details

Victim: Tammy Acker

The father survived strangulation with an electric cord.

Victim names in the second death sentence: Bessie and Edwin Morris.

Third man mentioned in the August 8, 1985 crimes: Donald Terry Bartley. Bartley pleaded guilty and was serving a life sentence.