In a written order last week, Trigg County Circuit Judge Natalie White denied a motion from the office of Bill Deatherage, one seeking a retrial for Landon Stinson.
Wednesday afternoon, White sentenced the Cadiz man in line with the Commonwealth’s and jury’s recommendation: consecutive life sentences without parole in a state penitentiary for the July 2021 Cerulean Road familial double-homicide of his great aunt Sue Faris, and his cousin Matthew Blakeley.
White’s statement, however, followed raw testimony from a pair of victim impact statements, illicit response from Stinson, a visceral exchange between family members in the gallery — and a call for law enforcement backup into the Trigg County Judicial Center to squelch tempers.
Kathy Faris, niece of Sue and aunt of Blakeley, emptied her emotional tank.
And it didn’t stop there.
Stinson responded with expletives, prompting his sister, Katelynn Schiro, to exclaim: “Keep your composure, Landon. You’re going to have a chance to talk.”
Since the murders, and especially during the trial, the family has been fully fractured. That rift only widened this Valentine’s Day, when Kathy left the stand, turned to a family member in support of Stinson, and they exchanged one key phrase: “Your day is coming.” And it’s this, that prompted Bailiff Melissa Brown to radio for assistance.
After a six-minute cooldown period, Blakeley’s mother, Sarah Sieg, sobbed in between her words.
Deatherage has two motions pending, one for Stinson’s transfer, and one for in forma pauperis, which is a Latin legal term meaning “in the character or manner of a pauper,” and it refers to the ability of an indigent person to proceed in court without payment of the usual fees necessary with a lawsuit or appeal.
Deatherage also made one final note in the case for Stinson.
Codified in 1976, criminal appeals involving a sentence of death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment of 20 years or more are heard directly by the Kentucky Supreme Court, bypassing the Kentucky Court of Appeals.
