United States of America v. Sharpe

Appeals from the United States District Court For the Southern District of Mississippi In this criminal appeal, we examine once again the sordid tale of Kirksey McCord Nix's (""Nix"") prison-based criminal empire and the related murders of Vincent and Margaret Sherry. We first examined these events in United States v. Sharpe, 995 F.2d 49 (5th Cir. 1993) (""Sharpe I""). Since Sharpe I new facts have come to light implicating Thomas Leslie Holcomb (""Holcomb"") and Peter Halat, Jr. (""Halat"") in the Sherrys' murder. As a result of this new information a grand jury issued a fifty-two count indictment against Nix, Holcomb, Halat, and Sheri LaRa Sharpe (""Sharpe""). Following a new trial (""Sharpe II""), Nix and Sharpe were again convicted. Additionally, the jury convicted both Holcomb and Halat for their respective roles in this affair. I. BACKGROUND