A man sentenced to death for two 2005 murders appeared in a Georgetown County courtroom on Monday.
Stephen Stanko appeared in a Georgetown County courtroom at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, according to Robert Kittle, with the Attorney General’s Office.
Kittle said this was a post-conviction relief hearing related to Stanko’s 2006 conviction and death sentence for murder and other convictions including assault and battery with intent to kill, first degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, and armed robbery.
Court documents filed by Stanko and his legal team say Stanko intended to rely on affidavits and prior witness testimony to support his post-conviction relief claims.
“In support of his claims, applicant intends to rely upon an affidavit provided by Russell Stetler,” the court documents state. “Applicant also intends to rely on prior testimony from witnesses Russell Stetler and Bryan Wilson.”
Stetler is “an expert in the prevailing professional norms in the investigation and presentation of mitigation and mental health evidence in capital cases” and he previously testified in Stanko’s 2015 Horry County capital post-conviction relief hearings, the documents claim. Wilson previously testified in Stanko’s Horry County capital trial in 2009.
In 2009, a jury convicted Stanko for killing Henry Turner, of Conway, and he received the death penalty.
Stanko also received the death penalty in a separate trial for killing his girlfriend Laura Ling.
Both murders happened in 2005.
To read the full court documents filed by Stanko and his legal team on Monday, click here.
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