Vail v. State

OPINION

CONNOR, Justice.

Timothy Taylor and Sidney Lee Vail appeal from convictions of first degree murder. 1

On the morning of September 21, 1975, the body of Michael Sickles was discovered in a wooded vacant lot near downtown Anchorage. The corpse bore multiple stab wounds. It was later established at trial that these wounds were inflicted by two different knives. The police found a knife and the decedent’s wallet near the scene of the crime. Further investigation by officers of the Anchorage Police Department led them to focus on two suspects, Timothy Taylor and Sidney Vail.

Taylor’s…