Is Thomas Arthur The Real Killer?

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - Attorneys attempting to delay Thomas
Arthur's execution have sent Gov. Bob Riley and court officials an
affidavit signed by another inmate who says he killed Troy Wicker
Jr.
But Attorney General Troy King and the victim's wife both say
the affidavit is untrue.
Bobby Ray Gilbert, who is serving life without parole, says in
his handwritten affidavit that he was a 17-year-old having an
affair with Wicker's wife when she hired him to kill her husband
for $2,000.
Arthur is scheduled to die Thursday for the killing of Wicker in
1982.
In the affidavit, Gilbert says he first admitted the killing to
a friend only last year and attempted to contact Arthur's lawyers.
The affidavit came as the Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday
refused to delay Arthur's execution, set for Thursday by lethal
injection.
The court voted 6-2 in denying his bid for a stay. The 66-year-old Arthur sought a delay to allow time for DNA
testing of evidence from his trial.
Last week, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also refused
to delay the execution for DNA testing.


(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)