Jimmie L. Weekley v. Jimmie Jones

MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, Circuit Judge.

This protracted litigation grew out of tragic events that occurred more than seventeen years ago when Jimmie L. Weekley evidently killed his wife with a shotgun and then turned the weapon on himself in an unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide. A jury convicted him of second-degree murder in 1980, a judge (the jury being unable to decide on a sentence) sentenced him to life in prison, and, after his conviction was affirmed on appeal, see State v. Weekley, 621 S.W.2d 256 (Mo.1981), Mr. Weekley twice petitioned for post-conviction relief on various grounds…