A 30-year-old Hutchinson man who was ordered to prison for 40-years for his involvement in the murder of a Hutchinson man is scheduled to have his appeal heard by the Kansas Supreme Court next week.
Anthony Waller was given the sentence by Judge Tim Chambers back in April of 2011, after he denied the judgement of accquittal and motion for a new trial by defense attorney Carl Maughn.
Joshua Haines was beaten and strangled in an apartment at 12th & Severance, and his body placed in his vehicle and left in front of a home a few blocks away. All this occurring on April 10, 2010.
The state believes Waller masterminded the idea of tricking Haines, by luring him to a co-defendants apartment telling him they wanted to buy drugs, but once inside the dark apartment, he along with 32-year-old Jose Delacruz and 36-year-old Vasie Coons then ambushed Haines, beat him and Waller reportedly strangled him to death.
Coons entered pleas to aggravated robbery, possession of cocaine, methamphetamine, and misdemeanor possession of marijuana while the murder charge against him was dropped. He’s serving a 12-year sentence.
The third co-defendant in the case, Jose Delacruz was found not guilty of murder, but was convicted of aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to nearly 7-years for the robbery conviction, He was also given another 9-years for a conviction of contempt of court.
The hearing on the appeal for Anthony Waller is scheduled for next Tuesday morning.