Page 35 - June July 2017

Elite Investigative Journal
Guilt vs Innovence: The Story of Billy Kuenzel , pg 35-41
©2014-2017 SYT Global, Inc.

Guilt vs Innocence:

The Story of

Billy Kuenzel

By Catherine Farmer
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Photo Courtesy of google.com
H The Death Penalty system in the United States has been a contentious issue for many years. There are currently
M 32 states which still have the Death Penalty, one of which is Alabama. Executions in Alabama are carried out at
E Holman Correctional Facility, located along Alabama State Highway 21, nine miles north of Atmore. According

N to the Montgomery based “Equal Justice Initiative” Alabama has the highest capital conviction rate per capita.
As of August 2014, there are 197 inmates in Alabama who are on Death Row, 170 of them are situated at Hol-
T man.

One of these inmates is William “Billy” Kuenzel. Following a trial that lasted just a day and a half on Septem-
ber 23rd 1988, he was convicted of “capital murder during a robbery in the first degree” in the Circuit Court of
Talledega County. On November 7th 1988, he was sentenced to “death by electrocution”. For over 25 years, Billy
and his legal team have diligently gathered facts and information to support his unwavering and consistent claim
of innocence. There is overwhelming evidence which not only substantiates this claim but also exposes a series
of corruption and court violations by the prosecution both before and during the trial. There is also substantial
evidence to suggest that it was in fact Billy’s work colleague and roommate Harvey Venn who was responsible
for the murder. Billy Kuenzel’s story is a tragic tale of a young man whose unfortunate association with Venn has
resulted in him spending 25 years on Death Row at one of Alabama’s most notorious prisons.

Billy could lose his life largely due to a “legal technicality”. His conviction and death sentence were upheld in
March 1991 by the Alabama Supreme Court and again in October 1991 by the United States Supreme Court.
Billy was told he had two years to appeal this decision starting from the date the judgment of the “Supreme
Court” became final. Due to lack of funds, Billy was without legal representation from October 1991, until his
case was picked up by a pro bono lawyer in August 1993 who believed he had a further two months to file a post-
conviction appeal. Unfortunately, it wasn’t made clear as to which Supreme Court ruling the deadline referred
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