Death sentence in 2004 Kansas murders overturned

? The Kansas Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence for a man convicted of capital murder in the 2004 killings of a Great Bend woman and her boyfriend.

The court Friday ordered a new sentencing hearing in Barton County District Court for Sidney Gleason. He faced lethal injection for the February 2004 killings of Miki Martinez and Darren Wornkey.

Prosecutors said Martinez witnessed Gleason’s participation in the robbery of a 76-year-old man and Gleason and another participant worried about what she might tell police. Authorities also said they also planned to kill her boyfriend if he got in the way.

A 5-2 high court majority said the presiding judge gave improper instructions to the jury considering whether Gleason should be sentenced to death.