Brian Keith Moore

Case overview

Brian Keith Moore was sentenced to death on November 29, 1984 in Jefferson County for kidnapping, robbery and the murder of 79 year old Virgil Harris on August 10, 1979 in Louisville, Kentucky.

The offence

Virgil Harris was returning to his car from a grocery store parking lot when he was abducted. Moore drove the victim to a wooded area of Jefferson County and killed him.

Moore drew a gun on the victim as the victim was returning to his car in a grocery store parking lot. Moore commandeered the car and threw the victim down an embankment several miles away. Moore then shot the victim from point blank range on the top of the head, in the face below the right eye, inside the right ear, and behind the right ear.

Hours later, Moore returned to remove a wristwatch from the body.

The victim had been on his way to celebrate his 77th birthday with his adult children.

People

• Brian Keith Moore — defendant
• Virgil Harris — victim, 79 years old

Sentencing

Moore was sentenced to death on November 29, 1984 in Jefferson County.

Post-conviction and litigation

A United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit opinion listed as 03-6105 addressed MOORE, BRIAN (DOB 12-16-57). Moore was on death row in Kentucky.

In 2006, Moore became the first Kentucky death row inmate to win DNA testing. A judge ordered an examination of multiple pieces of clothing that the Commonwealth claimed Moore was wearing when the murder was committed.

Lab techs discovered enough DNA to be tested.

Moore’s attorney stated that, under Kentucky law, the DNA testing was to be done in the Kentucky State Police Crime Lab.

The Louisville Courier Journal noted that an Assistant Attorney General representing the Commonwealth ordered, with a judge’s order, for the State Police Crime Lab to stop testing shortly before results were to be returned. The article quoted:

With Kentucky lab technicians just hours away from completing DNA testing that could exonerate death row inmate Brian Keith Moore in the 1979 murder of a Louisville man, the testing was halted at the request of state prosecutors last week, Moore’s attorney said.

The article also quoted, regarding the request to stop the tests:

Prosecutors with the state attorney general’s office asked the Kentucky State Crime Lab to stop tests on DNA evidence found on the clothing reportedly worn by the killer in the slaying of Virgil Harris, saying a DNA sample taken from Moore might not have been obtained properly.

In legal papers filed in 2006, prosecutors said pants and shoes from the crime scene were available for testing. Subsequently, prosecutors said they could not find the evidence.

A hearing on lost evidence in the death row case was scheduled for Thursday on August 21, 2007, and the matter included:

• Prosecutors in the case said they were not able to find crucial evidence alleged to place the defendant at the crime scene.
• Moore said he was framed by the actual perpetrator.
• Moore had been granted access to DNA testing to determine whether clothing found at the scene belonged to an alternate suspect who had since died.
• Defense attorneys were asking a judge to overturn Moore’s death sentence.

Although the Innocence Project was not involved in Moore’s case, the material described Staff Attorney Vanessa Potkin discussing evidence preservation, including a quoted passage:

"Evidence just doesn't disappear," Potkin said.
"You really need to be diligent. In this case, the significance could be life or death."

Evidence and searches

The material stated that old evidence was found after multiple searches in recent cases in Virginia, New Jersey and New York. It also described a New York case in which Alan Newton waited 11 years for a rape kit to be located and was released in 2006 after serving 21 years of a 40-year sentence.

It also stated that Maryland's highest court ordered prosecutors to keep searching for evidence that could be tested in a 33-year-old murder.

Timeline

• August 10, 1979 — Virgil Harris was kidnapped in a grocery store parking lot, driven to a wooded area in Jefferson County, abducted, and killed in Louisville, Kentucky.
• November 29, 1984 — Moore was sentenced to death in Jefferson County.
• 2006 — Moore won DNA testing; clothing reportedly worn by the killer was ordered to be examined.
• August 21, 2007 — A hearing on lost evidence in Moore’s death row case was scheduled.

Other details

Moore returned hours later to remove a wristwatch from the body. Moore’s victims included Virgil Harris. The case materials included references to DNA testing being halted at the request of state prosecutors and to allegations that a DNA sample taken from Moore might not have been obtained properly.