By Mark R. Chellgren
The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - The death sentence given Fred Furnish for murdering Ramona Jean Williamson during a burglary in June 1998 must be overturned because jurors should have been able to consider a punishment of life without parole, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

Mr. Furnish, now 34, was indicted for murder, burglary, robbery theft and fraud in Kenton County in August 1998.

In between those times, legislation passed by the General Assembly took effect that created the penalty of life without possibility of parole. But during Mr. Furnish's trial, the judge ruled that the jury could not consider the new penalty because it was not in effect at the time the crime was committed.

The Supreme Court, which unanimously upheld all of Mr. Furnish's convictions, said he should be given a new sentencing hearing where the jury should be given the chance to consider the entire range of punishments available in a capital case.

Mr. Furnish was sentenced to death in the strangling murder of Ms. Williamson in July of 1999. While he was already serving time on death row, he was indicted and later pled guilty in July 2002 to the November 1997 strangling murder of another woman, Doris Bertsch, 70, of Kenton Hills.

Mr. Furnish received a 25-year sentence without the possibility for parole after he pleaded guilty to the Bertsch murder.

Neither the prosecutor nor defense attorneys on the Furnish case were surprised about the sentence being overturned.

"We're not surprised," said Mary Rafizadeh, the directing attorney on the case in the public defender's office. "We anticipated that it would happen this way."

Former Commonwealth Attorney Don Buring, who is now development director at Covington Catholic High School, said the issue of not being able to present a jury with life without parole as an option came up early.

"We knew that was looming, in light of another (death penalty) case that came out," Mr. Buring said.

Enquirer reporter Chris Mayhew contributed.