FRANKFORT — Condemned killer Karu Gene White, convicted of beating to death three elderly eastern Kentucky storekeepers in 1979, received an adequate defense, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

        “The arguments now presented by White are little more than a lengthy legal essay on how the case could have been handled with the benefit of hindsight,” the court said in a unanimous, unsigned opinion.

        The court originally upheld Mr. White's 1980 conviction and sentence on the automatic review granted all capital cases in 1983. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review his case in 1984.

        Since then, Mr. White's case has languished as his attorneys spent nearly eight years preparing and presenting a common appeal in criminal cases — an allegation that the defendant was not properly defended at trial. Mr. White earlier argued the delays should be grounds for overturning his case, but that argument was also rejected.

        Mr. White was found guilty of murdering Charles Gross, 75; his wife, Lula Gross, 74; and Sam Chaney, 79; during a robbery of a small store in Breathitt County in February 1979.

        The trial was moved to Powell County. Mr. White pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity or intoxication and said he had used the drug LSD on the day of the killings. A juvenile accomplice testified Mr. White planned the robbery.

        Mr. White, 44, still has several avenues of appeal remaining.

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