Opinion ID: 3045004
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: West Murder Conviction (1977)

Text: Before the 1982 brutal murder of Troy Wicker at issue here, Arthur was convicted in 1977 for the equally brutal murder of Eloise Bray West, the sister of Arthur’s common-law wife. See Ex parte Arthur, 472 So. 2d 665, 669 (Ala. 1985). Arthur killed West at a commercial office during business hours. When West failed to reveal the location of Arthur’s wife, Arthur drew two guns, aimed one at West’s head, and said, “[T]ell me where my wife is, or I’m going to blow your head off.” As West picked up the telephone, Arthur fired both guns. One bullet went into the floor in front of West’s desk, one bullet hit a witness in his side, and one bullet struck West in the right eye, killing her nearly instantly. After a jury trial in 1977, Arthur was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. 2 See Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), Pub. L. 104– 132, §101, 110 Stat. 1214, 1217 (1996) (codified in scattered sections of Title 28 of the U.S. Code, with one-year limitations period codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)). 3 Case: 12-13952 Date Filed: 01/06/2014 Page: 4 of 53