UPDATE 6/2/11 @ 7:45 a.m.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- A man on federal death row for killing women in South Carolina and West Virginia says he wants his sentence and conviction vacated.
Lawyers argue in court documents filed Tuesday that original attorneys for 29-year-old Brandon Basham made mistakes during his 2004 trial.
Basham and Chadrick Fulks were convicted of killing 19-year-old Marshall University student Samantha Burns and 44-year-old Alice Donovan of Galivants Ferry after they escaped from a Kentucky jail in November 2002.
A year ago, Basham asked that he be allowed to drop any remaining appeals and be executed. Basham had also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his death sentence because of a juror's misconduct. But the justices turned down that request without comment.
Donovan's remains were found last year. Burns' body has never been found.
The Associated Press reports that court documents filed Tuesday show that Brandon Basham sent that request to a federal court in Columbia late last week.
Basham had previously asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his death sentence following juror misconduct. Justices overturned the request without comment earlier this month.
Basham, along with co-defendant Chad Fulks, were convicted of killing Alice Donovan, 44, of Galivants Ferry, SC in 2002.
The two escaped from a Kentucky jail and kidnapped the 44-year-old from a Walmart parking lot in Conway, SC. Donovan’s remains were finally found in January 2009.
Basham and Fulks also pleaded guilty to federal carjacking charges that resulted in the death of 19-year-old Samantha Burns.
Burns was killed in the Huntington area during that two-week crime spree involving the duo in November 2002. Her body has never been found.
The justices did not comment Tuesday in turning down Brandon Basham, who was sentenced to death for kidnapping and killing 44-year-old Alice Donovan in 2002.
The foreperson on Basham's jury was held in contempt of court by the trial judge after it was learned that she called five news organizations and made 71 other calls to two fellow jurors, despite repeated warnings from the judge to refrain from discussing the case with anyone.
Brandon Basham was convicted of killing a 44-year-old woman in South Carolina during a two-week crime spree after he and Chadrick Fulks escaped from a Kentucky jail in 2002.
Basham and Fulks also have pleaded guilty to killing 19-year-old Marshall University student Samantha Burns in West Virginia.
Basham asked for his death-sentence in South Carolina to be thrown out as a result of jury foreman Cynthia Wilson's conduct. Despite warnings from a federal judge not to discuss the case, Wilson called five news organizations and placed 71 other calls to two fellow jurors.
The judge refused Basham's request to throw out his death sentence and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., agreed. The U.S. Supreme Court could decide as early as Tuesday whether it will hear Basham's case.
Monica Caison, founder of Community United Effort - Center for Missing Persons, said the search was called off about 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
Crews were looking Samantha Burns' remains in what was once a ravine that had been filled with debris from a mudslide and fill dirt.
Caison says searchers used numerous cadaver dogs, which failed to turn up anything in the southwestern West Virginia site.
Chadrick Fulks and Brandon Basham were convicted of killing the 19-year-old Burns and 44-year-old Alice Donovan of Galivants Ferry, S.C., after they escaped from a Kentucky jail in November 2002. Fulks insists Burns' body was dumped in Wayne County.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Meanwhile, South Carolina FBI agent Jeff Bruning stood his usual watch on Tuesday, reminding those not involved at the scene that this is not a search for evidence in the case of two already convicted killers.
"This is about closure, and if we can make happen what happened in South Carolina, that will happen," Bruning said, referring to the case of Alice Donovan whose remains were found in January.
During that search and also acting on a map and information from confessed murderer Chad Fulks, Bruning and search leader Monica Caison led the effort that produced Donovan's remains -- six years after her death. Donovan's family will have a long awaited funeral Nov. 14.
"Her two daughters were in a living nightmare," Bruning said. "We were able to give them answers and some peace."
Bruning said Fulks is now not resigned to a death sentence, but actively appealing for his life.
"He's constantly appealing and has another on in a few weeks," Bruning said.
Caison said Bruning's hopes here are as deep and passionate as any family member.
If the current Wayne County site is eliminated, Bruning and Caison insist that the search for Burns is definitely not over.
The volunteers are with CUE, a national group that helps families find missing children.
Monica Caison, the founder of the group, told WSAZ.com that they are digging with an excavator behind the railroad tracks on Maple Lane. She says her group will keep searching until dark.
Burns disappeared more than six years ago. Chad Fulks admitted to killing her and Alice Donovan in South Carolina.
Caison says Fulks led them to a body that was identified as Donovan during a search in South Carolina. New information from Fulks has brought the group together again in Wayne County.
Caison says,"We'll stay out here as long as it takes to find Samantha."
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6pm Tuesday: Search Continues
