Cold Blooded Murder Conviction In Amarillo, Texas Overturned

It was one of the most harrowing murders in Amarillo at the time, and it's landed back in the news with some pretty significant developments 26 years later.

This is one of those cases that goes to show you that nothing is actually ever book closed on something, and this particular development has saved a person's life.

Cold Blooded Murder

Does the name Brittany Holberg ring a bell? Maybe the name A.B. Towery, Sr.? It was a flat-out cold-blooded murder that took place.

You can read the full story of the murder above, but for purposes of this update, I'll give you the short version. Holberg was a 23-year-old prostitute addicted to cocaine at the time. Police believe that she was attempting to rob Towery of money to support her habit.

When police arrived on the scene, they found Towery with multiple stab wounds and with part of a lamp shoved in his throat.

Why Is It Back In The News

Fast forward 26 years after the conviction, and Holberg finds herself potentially with a chance to be free. According to recent court documents, judges have found that prosecutors in the case withheld information that could've changed the entire course of the trial.

Holberg's attorneys were unaware that one of the key witnesses in the capital murder trial was a confidential informant. Vickie Marie Kirkpatrick's testimony was something that prosecutors leaned on to get Holberg convicted in the case.

After the 2-1 ruling, Circuit Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham said in the majority opinion that was offered up,

"We find that if the State had disclosed Kirkpatrick’s status as a confidential informant, there is a reasonable probability that the result of Holberg’s proceedings would have been different,"

The Informant

Kirkpatrick had been arrested for a burglary charge in 1997, and they placed her in the same cell as Holberg. The information gathered in conversations with Holberg in the cell was ultimately used against her in her trial.

Her testimony not only helped convict Holberg of the crime, but it was such a strong testimony that they imposed the death penalty on Holberg. The strange part was that Holberg testified that she never even spoke to Kirkpatrick while in jail.

That story was corroborated by Melissa Wisemen. She shared a cell with the two women, and she told the jury she never heard a conversation about Holberg killing Towery.

What Happens Now

The courts have officially reversed the conviction of Holberg, which also takes her off of death row. She was the only inmate on death row in Randall County. Now, there are none.

With the ruling reversed, it means there is no sentencing in the case and it kicks back to the indictment phase. That means this case essentially starts all over from square one and they have to determine whether there is enough credible evidence to bring it to trial.

This is significant as now the Randall County DA's office has to determine whether or not they want to pursue a 26-year-old case at this point, or just say time served and let Holberg free. Randall County District Attorney Robert Love would not comment on how they will proceed with the case.