High Court Upholds Death Penalty In Church Deaths

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana's Supreme Court has upheld the convictions and death penalty for Anthony Bell, who killed four of his in-laws and his wife after bursting into a Baton Rouge church in 2006.

Bell was convicted in 2008 of five counts of first-degree murder and one of attempted first-degree murder. He shot his wife's mother and four others at the Ministry of Jesus Christ Church, where his mother-in-law was pastor. He kidnapped his wife Erica from the church and shot her at a nearby apartment building parking lot. Only his mother-in-law survived.

The Supreme Court rejected defense arguments that Bell was mentally retarded and could therefore not be legally executed.