State v. Armstrong

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Schroeder, C.J.;

The defendant, Robert W. Armstrong, directly appeals his convictions by a Sedgwick County jury of two counts of first-degree murder for the murders of Don and Norma Earl. This was defendant’s third jury trial. The first trial ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury. The second trial ended in a mistrial when the trial judge ruled that the defendant was not mentally competent to proceed.

On Saturday, June 2,1979, Don and Norma Earl made plans to get a drink at the Copacabana, a tavern owned by Cecil Stem-bridge. Later that evening, Norma…