Mother Convicted in Son's Slaying Gets New Trial
May 26, 2005 — -- Three years ago this month, an Illinois jury unanimously found Julie Rea-Harper guilty of the brutal stabbing death of her 10-year-old son, Joel Kirkpatrick, and sentenced her to 65 years in state prison.
Two years into her sentence, however, an appeals court dismissed her conviction.
Rea-Harper was released from prison in July 2004, after the appeals court ruled that the appointment of lawyers from the state appellate prosecutor's office to obtain the indictment and to prosecute the case violated state law. That law has since been amended to allow attorneys from the office to handle murder cases, and Rea-Harper will face the same prosecutors in a new trial on first-degree murder charges brought by the state.
In a victory for Rea-Harper's defense team, the Illinois trial court judge in Lawrence County ruled in March of this year that Sells' confessions would be permitted as evidence in her new trial. It will be compelling testimony given that Sells has recounted committing a murder at the same time and in the same area of the country.
The question now is whether Sells' confessions are credible.
Sells claims he entered a home at night, grabbed a knife from the kitchen, entered a bedroom and began stabbing. He further recounted being surprised by a woman and wrestling with her both inside and outside of the house before fleeing.
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