JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A high profile death penalty case goes back before a jury this week, as two men convicted in the 2005 murder of an elderly Jacksonville couple are resentenced.
Alan Wade and Michael Jackson were sentenced to death along with Tiffany Cole after they were convicted of murdering Carol and Reggie Sumner by burying them alive. At the time of sentencing, the judge in the case said he could hardly envision a death more “painful and vile.”
Because the three death penalty verdicts were not unanimous, they were thrown out in 2017, requiring new sentencing hearings.
Jury selection for that process began today. Once selected, jurors will decide the appropriate penalty in a proceeding expected to last all week.
