Lankford

I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

Robert and Cheryl Bravence were reported missing when they failed to arrive at a relative’s house following an LANKFORD v. ARAVE 18295 extended camping trip in the summer of 1983. One week later, officials discovered their van abandoned at a Los Ange- les bus terminal. In September, hunters found the couple’s remains in a remote Idaho campground, not far from their last known campsite. The skulls of both were badly damaged, indicating they had died of blunt trauma to the head.

Two brothers, Mark and Bryan Lankford, were arrested for the murders. Investigators found Mark’s car about a quarter of a mile from the victims’ bodies and his handwriting on credit slips for food and lodging purchased with the victims’ stolen credit cards. Investigators found both brothers’ finger- prints in the Bravences’ abandoned van, and they found Mr. Bravence’s knife—with Bryan’s initials newly carved into the scabbard—in Bryan’s possession.

The brothers were convicted, in separate trials, and sen- tenced to death on the same day. Bryan’s sentence was over- turned on appeal based on the sentencing agreement he received in return for his testimony…