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Alabama Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence

By Associated Press

Montgomery AL – The Alabama Supreme Court has upheld the capital murder conviction and death sentence of a man convicted of beating a Boaz convenience store clerk to death with a metal pipe and a six-pound can of peas.

The court Friday upheld a decision of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals confirming the death sentence of 39-year-old Rick Allen Belisle. He was convicted of the May 19, 1999 beating death of Joyce Moore.

The Supreme Court also upheld the capital murder conviction and death sentence of 31-year-old Michael Brown. He was convicted of killing 66-year-old Betty Kirkpatrick after breaking into her home in Hueytown in October 2001.

Prosecutors said Brown tried to smother the woman and then cut her throat.

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