DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A man who was given a new trial after spending 28 years on death row and was once two hours away from execution has pleaded guilty to two murders.
Roy Clifford Swafford on Friday pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for the deaths of Brenda Rucker and Diane Markland three decades ago.
He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison.
Swafford had been on death row for almost three decades for Rucker’s 1982 death in Daytona Beach until the Florida Supreme Court last November ordered a new trial.
The high court raised serious questions about the evidence in the case.
A grand jury in Volusia County indicted Swafford on Thursday for the shooting death of Markland. Prosecutors said DNA found on Markland matched that of Swofford.
Source: Associated Press
