The Edward N. Bell Case

Home | Archive | Weather | Traffic
Subscribe | Guide to the Daily

News | The Edward N. Bell Case

Supreme Court ruling clears way for execution

Edward N. Bell, 43, was sheduled for execution on July 24, but the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, May 12, agreed to hear his case over a technical issue and stayed the execution. The Jamaican national's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was dismissed on Nov. 17, 2008 with a one-sentence order, all but ending his seven-year odyssey through the legal system.

The Virginia death-row inmate was convicted in 2001 of the October 1999 shooting death of Winchester police Sgt. Ricky L. Timbrook.

Archive of stories in the Edward N. Bell case

Friday, February 20, 2009
Shenandoah University students hold vigil on night of execution

Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Appellate arguments for Bell's life proved fruitless

Tuesday, February 17, 2009
European Union asks Kaine to spare Bell

Saturday, February 7, 2009
Cop killer pleads for clemency from Kaine

Friday, February 6, 2009
Bell continues to maintain his innocence

Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Bell awaiting hearing for date of execution

Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Dismissal clears the way for new execution date to be set

Tuesday, November 18, 2008
New information would be required for lawyers to prevent lethal injection

Monday, November 17, 2008
*High court rejects Bell appeal

Thursday, November 13, 2008
Justices listen to Bell case

Friday, November 7, 2008
Supreme Court set to take up Bell argument

Monday, September 29, 2008
*Attorney general argues Bell death sentence should stand

Friday, August 1, 2008
Bell's attorneys file Supreme Court brief

Monday, May 12, 2008
Edward N. Bell's family speaks out to share the other side

Monday, May 12, 2008
Death row more solitary than standard prison life

Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Family and friends react to high court's decision to intervene

Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Justices to tackle Bell's case at conference

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Va. court looking at procedures for man on death row

Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Justices still mum on Bell petition

Thursday, April 17, 2008
Court ruling puts Bell back in cross hairs

Thursday, April 17, 2008
Political boost cited as governor's fast action hailed

Thursday, April 3, 2008
Officer's family jabs at Kaine's promise

Thursday, April 3, 2008
Bell: Another path taken with Supreme Court

Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Governor postpones Bell's death while high court decides Ky. case

Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Local legislators feel that Kaine broke promise

Tuesday, April 1, 2008
*Kaine stays Bell's execution; imposes statewide moratorium

Saturday, March 29, 2008
Lethal injection argument disputed

Friday, February 15, 2008
Bell set to die April 8

Thursday, January 31, 2008
Bell seems bound for death chamber once again

Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Bell's appeal options starting to dry up

Multimedia

Photos

View photo slideshow of images captured by nvdaily.com photographers during the week following the murder of police Sgt. Ricky L. Timbrook
Video

Video provided by Bell's attorneys, shot in Jamaica:

nvdaily.com video

Joanne Nicholson, grandmother of three of Edward Bell's children, talks with Daily staff writer Garren Shipley about Bell:

Daily staff writer Jim Heffernan talks with friends and colleagues of slain police Sgt. Ricky Lee Timbrook:

Audio

View from the Cheap Seats podcast: Reactions of the stay from family members of Trimbrook and Bell, lawmakers, Winchester sheriff, governor's office

Winchester Sheriff Lenny Millholland reacts to the stay of execution in interview with Daily reporter Jim Heffernan

Documents

Reference work compiled by Bell's appellate team and the office of Attorney General Bob McDonnell over the course of the death sentence appeal:

Timeline

The following is a timeline of events in the life of Edward N. Bell.

Oct. 29, 1999: Timbrook is shot and killed after pursuing Bell. Bell is later found hiding in the basement of a house on East Piccadilly Street, not far from where police recover the gun used to kill Timbrook.
Jan. 20, 2001: Bell goes on trial in Winchester Circuit Court after a long series of motions.
Jan 26, 2001: A jury of nine women and three men find Bell guilty of capital murder.
Jan 26, 2001: The same jury takes less than an hour to sentence Bell to death. The dearth of mitigation witnesses presented by the defense team will later become an major issue on appeal.
May 30, 2001: Winchester Circuit Court Judge Dennis L. Hupp accepts the jury's death sentence.
June 28, 2001: Bell's lawyers file their first notice of appeal in Circuit Court.
Aug. 27, 2001: Bell's lawyers file their first appeal with the Virginia Supreme Court.
Jan. 29, 2002: Lawyers for Bell file their first series of briefs with the Virginia Supreme Court.
April 16, 2002: Justices of the Virginia Supreme Court hear oral arguments in Bell's appeal.
June 7, 2002: The Virginia Supreme Court upholds Bell's conviction and sentence.
Oct. 25, 2002: Bell's lawyers ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Bell's conviction.
Jan. 10, 2003: The nine justices decline to hear Bell's appeal, sending the matter back to state courts.
March 14, 2003: Bell files a habeas corpus petition with the Virginia Supreme Court.
April 10, 2003: The high court returns Bell's brief for being longer than 50 pages.
April 24, 2003: Bell's legal team files a smaller appeal with the Virginia Supreme Court.
May 2003: The Virginia Supreme Court turns down Bell's state-level habeas corpus appeal.
June 2004: State justices deny appeal from officer's killer.
November 2004: Petition for re-hearing is denied by the Virginia Supreme Court.
Dec. 7, 2004: Execution date is set for Jan 7., 2005.
Dec. 23, 2004: U.S. District Court Judge James P. Jones issues a stay of execution while Bell pursues one final appeal.
Jan. 3, 2005: A new legal team file paperwork in federal court in Abingdon, putting the court on notice that Bell intends to prove actual innocence.
May 17, 2005: Bell files federal habeas corpus appeal, asking for a new sentencing on the grounds that his legal team at the time didn't put on an adequate case in mitigation at sentencing.
June 16, 2005: Virginia Attorney General's office moves to dismiss the case.
July 6-7, 2005: Judge Jones castigates Bell's initial legal team for their sentencing performance after a two-day hearing in Harrisonburg, but stuns the courtroom by not ordering a new sentencing. Jones also grants a certificate of appeal, allowing the case to move forward to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Sept. 18, 2006: Bell's case is docketed at the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond.
July 13, 2007: Bell's pleadings and other documents filed in Richmond.
Oct. 30, 2007: A three judge panel hears oral arguments from Bell's attorneys and the Virginia Attorney General's office.
Jan. 4, 2008: The three judge panel rules against Bell.
Jan. 18, 2008: Bell asks the appellate court to re-hear the case.
Jan. 29, 2008: The same three judge panel denies Bell's rehearing petition.
Feb. 5, 2008: Bell asks the court to "stay its mandate" so as to leave the stay of execution issued in 2004 in place while he appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Feb. 12, 2008: The three-judge panel denies Bell's request.
Feb. 14, 2008: A Winchester Circuit Court judge sets Bell's execution date for April 8.
April 16, 2008: Gov. Timothy M. Kaine lifts temporary moratorium on Virginia death penalty
May 12, 2008: U.S. Supreme Court stays execution