Murder-for-hire trial delayed
Sep. 20—A man accused of killing a Hartselle father in a 2020 murder-for-hire plot is now expected to stand trial on Jan. 7 after attorneys agreed to push back his Oct. 16 trial date, according to filings in Morgan County Circuit Court.
Logan Delp, 40, is charged with capital murder in the shooting death of Anthony Larry Sheppard, 41. Hartselle police found Sheppard dead inside his residence the same day he was supposed to appear in court to hash out custody and visitation issues with the mother of his child, Jaclyn Skuce, 42.
Skuce is accused of paying Delp $30,000 to kill Sheppard after she found Delp through a Facebook account, according to investigators. She, along with three others accused of being accomplices — Angela Stolz, 37, Aaron Howard, 42, and LaJuhn Smart, 28 — are also charged with capital murder.
All five defendants have remained in the Morgan County Jail without bond while awaiting trial. Last Friday, the day after all defendants appeared in court for a status conference, Circuit Judge Jennifer Howell issued an order setting Delp's trial for Jan. 7.
"All co-Defendants listed above shall also be made present for Defendant Delp's trial," she wrote.
Morgan County District Attorney Scott Anderson said this week that trial dates for Delp's co-defendants remain uncertain. He anticipates prosecuting John Michael Legg, accused of a 2020 septuple homicide in Valhermoso Springs, before Delp's co-defendants. Legg's co-defendant, Frederic Rogers, was sentenced to life in prison without parole last week after a Morgan County jury found him guilty of capital murder.
"The capital cases that we try after Delp in 2025 have not yet been determined for certain," said Anderson. "It will depend upon the schedules of the court, the defense attorneys and the DA's Office. I'm sure that all parties will be addressing that issue as we draw closer to the end of the year." — Howard's letters
Howard, accused of acting as a lookout, recently wrote two letters addressed to Howell from jail, court filings show. His case is being handled by court-appointed attorneys Carl Cole and James Adams.
"I have lost faith in their ability and credibility to defend me," Howard wrote in a letter dated Aug. 24 (spelling has been corrected for readability). He said he was removing the case from their hands and asked for new counsel.
In response, Howell issued an order on Aug. 29 stating she was "disinclined" to grant the request.
"The Defendant is not reasonably specific in his request ... and the Court is of the opinion that the Defendant's lawyers are very experienced and very capable to defend the Defendant in this case," she wrote.
Nevertheless, Howell indicated that Howard would be permitted to speak on his request at a Sept. 6 status conference in the case. There, Howard's request was continued to a Sept. 13 hearing, court records show.
"It is agreed by Defendant Howard and his attorneys and the State that ruling on Defendant Howard's motion regarding withdrawal of counsel shall be deferred," Howell wrote in an order issued Sept. 14. As of Thursday, Howard was still being represented by Cole and Adams.
Howard wrote a second letter to Howell dated Aug. 31 elaborating on his concerns. The letter was filed in court on Tuesday.
In it, Howard outlined three complaints against Cole specifically. He claimed he had not received discovery evidence, despite asking for it for four years; he claimed Cole refused to keep in contact with him; and he claimed Cole "refused to defend another client of his."
The letters came shortly after Cole began defending Rogers, whose trial began in mid-August. During opening statements, as part of the defense team's strategy to keep Rogers from being put to death, Cole told the jury that Rogers was guilty of the charges against him. The strategy ultimately worked, and Rogers was sentenced to life without parole.
Cole this week declined to comment on Howard's request.
