PORT ANGELES — On the eve of Darold Ray Stenson’s canceled execution, lawyers on Tuesday hashed out an order for additional DNA testing in the double-murder case, and a DNA review hearing was moved up three weeks in Clallam County Superior Court.
Stenson, a former Sequim resident, remained on death row in the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.
He was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection today at 8 p.m., but the state Department of Corrections canceled the execution late Monday after the state Supreme Court refused to lift a stay of execution.
A new execution date will not be set for at least 90 days.
“I’m very disappointed,” Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly said of the high court’s ruling. “It’s unfair to the victims’ families.”
Stenson, 56, was convicted in 1994 in the shooting deaths of his wife, Denise, and business partner Frank Hoerner at his exotic bird farm near Sequim on March 25, 1993.
The court ruled unanimously to allow prosecutors to renew their case before a trial court in three months.
The form of the order for DNA testing was debated in Clallam County Superior Court by phone on Monday and continued Tuesday. Kelly said the parties are arguing over the final terms of the order.
“There’s still lots of work to do,” Kelly said.
It wasn’t clear Tuesday when the form would be finalized and sent to the state Supreme Court in Olympia for review.
Seattle attorneys Robert Gombiner and Sheryl McCloud are defending Stenson in Clallam County.
Judge Ken Williams on Nov. 25 reversed a decision he had made four days earlier on DNA testing in Clallam County Superior Court.
A new witness, Robert Shinn, came forth on Nov. 21 and claimed he had a conversation with another man about eight years ago regarding Stenson.
Shinn claimed that the second man had told him that Stenson was not guilty and that he had been framed.
In light of the evidence, Williams granted a stay of execution and set a DNA review hearing for Jan. 28 in Clallam County Superior Court.
That hearing was rescheduled for Jan. 7 on Tuesday, Kelly said.
Further DNA testing will be paid for by the Washington State Crime Lab, Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict said.
The county will investigate potential suspects that emerged from Shinn’s testimony.
Sheriff investigating
“It will cost us a fair amount of money for overtime to investigate a lot of these leads,” Benedict said.
“I’m a little frustrated. I don’t think this DNA testing is necessary. His guilt is beyond a reasonable doubt.”
In his decision to grant the stay of execution, Williams said Stenson’s defense presented no evidence that would justify a new trial, or raise a reasonable doubt of his guilt.
“Further DNA testing will, in my opinion, be more likely to inculpate the Defendant than exonerate him,” Williams said in a court transcript.
The only thing DNA testing could prove is whether or not others were involved in the murders, Benedict said.
The Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty filed a clemency petition on Stenson’s behalf Monday before the state clemency board.
Stenson, who has always maintained his innocence, opposed the petition.
Meanwhile, a separate stay of execution was granted in federal court Nov. 25 in Yakima. U.S. District Court Judge Lonny Suko granted the stay on the grounds that the state revised its procedure for administrating lethal injections without announcing any changes or going through a rule-changing process.
State Attorney General Rob McKenna appealed the federal ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
