21 November 2019 :

Death Sentence Switched to Life Without Parole for Roger Dale Epperson. Circuit Judge Eddy Coleman approved a motion Friday to set aside Roger Dale Epperson’s death sentence and re-sentence him to life without parole, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. Epperson, now 69, White, was convicted of murdering 23-year-old Tammy Dee Acker on August 8, 1985 during a robbery. Benny Lee Hodge, now 68, and Donald Terry Bartley, now 61, also were convicted in the case. 2 men posed as FBI agents to get inside the home of Dr. R.J. Acker, Tammy Acker’s father. A third man later joined them. The assailants forced Dr. Acker to open his safe and then one of the men choked him with the cord of a curling iron until he passed out. One of the men attacked Tammy Acker, stabbing her in the back with a butcher knife. Bartley testified against Epperson, saying Epperson orchestrated the whole thing. Bartley was sentenced to 25 years in prison and Hodge received a death sentence. Epperson was appealing on numerous grounds such as jury bias and a poor defense from his lawyer Lester Burns. The appeal process could have gone on until Epperson was in his 80s. Epperson’s attorneys, the Ackers and the state agreed that if Epperson would give up the appeal of his conviction, the death sentence would be removed, which would save tax dollars and give the Acker family closure. Although this death sentence was put aside, Epperson is still sentenced to death for the June 1985 murders of Edwin Morris, 65, and wife Bessie, 69. So is Hodge. The 2 were convicted in the fatal shooting of the couple during a robbery. The state of Kentucky has executed 3 men since the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a moratorium on capital punishment in 1976, and the last execution dates back to 2008.