PORT ANGELES — Former death row inmate Darold R. Stenson will be moved from Clallam County jail to the Washington Corrections Center at Shelton to await his March 4 trial on two counts of aggravated murder.
Department of Corrections spokesman Chad Lewis said Monday that he did not know when Stenson, 59, would be transferred from the Port Angeles jail, where Stenson is being held without bail.
At a hearing Thursday, Superior Court Judge S. Brooke Taylor signed the order transferring Stenson, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges he once was convicted of.
Taylor also set a status hearing for 1:30 p.m. Jan. 4 and the trial date of March 4.
Stenson has medical issues that can be better addressed by the Department of Corrections, Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly said last week.
Taylor scheduled four weeks for Stenson’s trial in connection with the 1993 shooting deaths of Stenson’s wife, Denise, and Stenson’s business partner, Frank Hoerner, at Stenson’s bird farm near Sequim.
Kelly has said she intends to seek the death penalty against the former death row inmate, whose 1994 conviction for shooting his wife and Hoerner was reversed May 10 by the state Supreme Court in an 8-1 ruling.
Stenson’s rights were violated when the state did not provide evidence consisting of photographs and an FBI file to Stenson’s counsel until 2009, the high court said.
The photograph showed the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office lead investigator in the case wearing Stenson’s bloodstained jeans, and the file consisted of FBI lab notes.
“Stenson, in our judgment, has met his burden of showing that there is a reasonable probability that had the FBI file and photographs been disclosed to the defense, the result of his trial would have been different,” the court said in the majority opinion.
In an earlier interview, Stenson’s lawyer, Roger Hunko said he would seek Stenson’s transfer to Shelton, asserting that his client’s high blood pressure and diabetes could be better treated in Shelton and that the location would put Stenson closer to Hunko’s law office.
It will be unusual to house Stenson at the prison, which is a reception and intake center for inmates who have just been sentenced, “not because of a medical condition out of county jail,” Lewis said.
“Typically, the only offenders who don’t go to Shelton are the ones who are sentenced to the death penalty,” he said.
“They typically go to the intensive management unit at the Washington State Penitentiary” at Walla Walla, Lewis said.
Stenson was on death row at Walla Walla before his conviction was overturned.
The state Supreme Court’s ruling is being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Clallam County has set aside $100,000 for the appeal, which will be argued by the state Attorney General’s Office on behalf of Clallam County.
Stenson’s trial could cost $1.4 million, County Administrator Jim Jones said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
