HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Hutchinson man sentenced to 40 years in prison for his involvement in the murder of Joshua Haines is again scheduled to be in court for a pre-trial hearing after a number of delays.
Anthony Waller was given the sentence by Judge Tim Chambers back in April of 2011 and Waller filed a Habeas Corpus motion seeking relief from his conviction and sentence.
He alleges in his petition that he didn’t have effective counsel at trial and also at the appellate level. He also claims that the state used perjured testimony and that the judge denied exculpatory evidence at trial.
The case centers on the victim being beaten and strangled in an apartment at 12th & Severance. Waller then bound Haines with duct tape and video game cords before dragging his body out of the apartment. The victim was stuffed into the passenger side of his car and the vehicle was abandoned a few blocks away. All this occurred on April 10, 2010. Waller was upset because he believed Haines had burglarized his apartment weeks earlier. An autopsy revealed that Haines had been struck approximately 70 times and strangled.
The hearing is scheduled in front of Judge Tim Chambers.
Two other suspects in the case are also serving time, that being 33-year-old Jose Delacruz and 37-year-old Vasie Coons. Coons is serving a 12-year sentence, while Delacruz was found not guilty of murder, but was convicted of aggravated robbery and is serving seven years in prison.
Assuming the hearing goes for Waller, we’ll let you know what happens.