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Anderson sentence vacated: Supreme Court paves way for confessed murderer to be resentenced

October 28, 2008|DAVID BROCK

HARRODSBURG- The Kentucky Supreme Court has vacated the sentence of life without parole for confessed killer Louis Lee Anderson and remanded the case to Mercer County Circuit Court for resentencing.

No date has been set yet for a hearing.

Anderson pleaded guilty to the 2006 robbery and murder of retired teacher Louise Pulliam of Harrodsburg and was given life without parole by Judge Darren Peckler.

He appealed the sentence, however, and the Supreme Court ruled recently that Anderson, who was 17 at the time of the murder, should have been sentenced as a juvenile because he was considered a youthful offender at the time of his indictment.

Commonwealth's Attorney Richie Bottoms said that, although he is disappointed, the next step for the state is clear.

"I have to respect the decision whether I agree with it or not," he said. "Obviously I believed that Judge Peckler made the correct ruling initially. With that not being an option, we will ask for the next highest sentence possible, which is life without parole for 25 years."

The decision came on the heels of another case, Shepherd v. Commonwealth, in which the Supreme Court ruled that life without the possibility of parole or probation is not a sentencing option for juveniles.

Anderson's attorney filed a motion after his indictment asserting that life without parole could not be given, but the motion was denied.

Bottoms said, in light of the ruling in the Shepherd case, the reversal of the Anderson sentencing did not come as a shock.

"The appeal on the other case had not been ruled on yet when we were in the sentencing phase," he said. "When that came down, we figured this might be the way the Supreme Court was leaning."

Bottoms said he expects the sentencing hearing to be set for November or December.

Pulliam was brutally killed the night on Jan. 13, 2006. She was on the phone with her daughter when Anderson, a former neighbor, came to her door claiming he needed fuel and a drink of water. Pulliam told her daughter that "one of the Anderson boys who used to live across the street" was at the door and ended the conversation, according to court documents.

Pulliam's daughter tried to contact her later that night and became alarmed when she did not answer calls. Police were notified and found Pulliam dead in her front hallway. She had been stabbed to death and robbed.

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