Charles Silagy, Cross-Appellant v. Howard Peters, Iii, Warden, Pontiac Correctional Center, Cross-Appellee

KANNE, Circuit Judge.

During the early morning hours of February 14, 1980, the body of Cheryl Block, the girlfriend of Petitioner, Charles Silagy, and that of Anne Budde-Waters were discovered in two separate locations in Vermillion County, Illinois. Each had been stabbed repeatedly and had died as a result of massive hemorrhaging caused by those stab wounds.

In a confession made to the police several days later, Silagy stated that he and Miss Block had been in an argument as they were driving from a local night club to another bar. Silagy recounted that he began to choke Miss Block during the…