Court Rejects DNA Testing In Von Maxcy Murder

TALLAHASSEE (AP) - The final chapter in one of Highlands County's most notorious murders may have come to an end Thursday.

DNA testing cannot be done in the contract killing of citrus and cattle baron Charles Von Maxcy because evidence from the sensational 1966 case apparently no longer exists, the Florida Supreme Court ruled.

The justices unanimously affirmed a trial judge's decision denying DNA testing sought by death row inmate William H. Kelley. He was convicted of killing Von Maxcy in 1984 - 18 years after the 41-year-old victim was stabbed and shot to death at his Sebring home.

Von Maxcy's wife, Irene, had arranged through her lover, John Sweet, to have Kelley, 64, of Brockton, Mass., kill her husband. Sweet, the state's chief witness, testified the wife was afraid of being left out of Von Maxcy's $1.7 million estate.

The Supreme Court, in an unsigned opinion, noted a court ordered that physical evidence be destroyed in 1976, nine years after Sweet had been convicted for his role in the murder. He did not implicate Kelley until 1981.

"Kelley claims that the items he seeks were not included in the evidence that was destroyed but wholly fails to substantiate his assertion," the justices wrote.

The 29 items Kelley wanted tested included Von Maxcy's hair and fingernail scrapings, carpet fibers from the home, the victim's belt, socks and shoes, his car keys and the vehicle's steering wheel.

At a county hearing on the DNA request before Chief Circuit Judge Belvin Perry Jr., nine state witnesses testified that searches failed to turn up the requested items in evidence vaults at offices of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the sheriff, court clerk, two medical examiners and the state attorney.

The justices pointed out Kelley's lawyers called only one witness, Florida International University biology professor Martin Tracey. He discussed the accuracy of DNA testing, not the whereabouts of the evidence.

Kelley's lawyers did not return a call seeking comment Thursday.

The high court also rejected Kelley's claims that Perry erred by denying his requests for information about the evidence from the state before the hearing and that he failed to receive adequate notice of the hearing.

Kelley earlier had been defended by famed lawyers William Kunstler and Laurence Tribe. He has lost a series of appeals including one to the U.S. Supreme Court. In those cases he argued that Sweet, who has since died, had falsely accused him.

Sweet, a real estate broker, originally was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. A year later Irene Von Maxcy admitted she had lied on the stand about his involvement and Sweet was freed. She was convicted of perjury and served four years in prison.

In return for his testimony against Kelley, Sweet received immunity in the Von Maxcy murder and in Massachusetts for charges including loan-sharking and counterfeiting.