The Associated Press
WINCHESTER, Va. (AP) - A man convicted of capital murder in the shooting death of a Winchester police officer has been scheduled for execution.
Edward Nathaniel Bell, 40, is scheduled to be executed on Jan. 7 for the slaying of Sgt. Ricky Timbrook in October 1999.
The Virginia attorney general’s office sent the formal execution date to the Winchester clerk of court’s office on Monday, the Winchester Star reported in an article for Tuesday’s editions.
Bell was found guilty of Timbrook’s murder and sentenced to death in May 2001 in Winchester Circuit Court. Since that time, Bell has been appealing his sentence. He’s currently on death row at the Sussex Correctional Facility in Waverly.
Timbrook was looking for a probation violator when he spotted Bell and pursued him on foot. Prosecutors said Bell shot Timbrook in the face because he feared the officer would find him carrying a gun or drugs. Bell, a Jamaican national, also faced a deportation hearing the next week.
Bell’s former attorney, Roy Bradley, who has handled all of Bell’s state appeals, said Tuesday he was not sure if he would represent Bell in a forthcoming round of federal appeals.
In the past year, Bradley and attorney Scott Servas handled Bell’s state appeals, including arguments on a habeas corpus petition filed in March 2003. Bradley argued that Bell had a questionable mental state at the time of the shooting.
The Virginia Court of Appeals denied the petition in November.
Bell can now file a federal habeas corpus petition in U.S. District Court and then take his case to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Bradley said. His last resort would be the U.S. Supreme Court.
Bell’s first federal appeal is expected to be filed soon by the Capital Defense Initiative, which handles death row cases.
Winchester Commonwealth’s Attorney Alexander Iden said because Bell still has a few appeals left, he doubts the execution will take place on Jan. 7.
Virginia has executed 94 inmates since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.