Judge Nixes Death Penalty for Utah Inmate

 By KERSTEN SWINYARD

SALT LAKE CITY - A judge threw out the death sentence of Utah's longest-serving death row inmate Friday because his defense was denied access to key evidence involving a trial witness who received immunity.

Judge Leslie Lewis ruled that the evidence would not have changed Elroy Tillman's conviction, but it may have indicated he was not solely responsible for the 1982 murder.

The decision allows for another sentencing hearing. State attorneys haven't decided whether to appeal.

 Just weeks before Tillman's scheduled execution in 2001, his lawyers received 50 previously undisclosed pages from police polygraph tests and interviews with Tillman's girlfriend, Carla Sagers.

 Sagers said she accompanied Tillman when he killed Mark Schoenfeld, who was dating Tillman's former girlfriend. Schoenfeld was bludgeoned with the blunt end of an ax and then set ablaze inside his Salt Lake City home.

 State attorneys gave Sagers immunity from prosecution for testifying against Tillman at his 1983 trial.

 At a December hearing on the newly disclosed evidence, police Sgt. Ken Thirsk testified the lie-detector tests indicated Sagers lied about her involvement.

 The judge's ruling said the transcripts showed Thirsk's incredulity toward Sagers' account of her role in the slaying gave the appearance that she had been coached, and showed other evidence that could have been used to undermine her credibility.

 Tillman, now 67, is Utah's oldest inmate and has served the longest term on the state's death row. Defense attorney Loni Deland said Tillman "was thrilled with the decision."

Assistant Attorney General Thomas Brunker said he and other state attorneys hadn't decided whether to appeal.