HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- A Henrico man convicted of brutally murdering his friend last year was sentenced Thursday to life in prison plus 28 years in a case where prosecutors had no scientific evidence, like DNA, tying him to the crime scene.
Police charged Bruce Duane Walton with murder after a family member found 67-year-old Roy Fuller dead inside his home on Hermitage Road in the Lakeside area in April of 2014.
Investigators said Fuller was stabbed more than 100 times.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor told CBS 6 her office was “able to present a case that showed there was no other reasonable explanation for how Fuller could have been killed.”
Walton, though, said he is innocent.
In an exclusive jailhouse interview, when asked by CBS 6 why viewers should believe he is innocent, Walton said the evidence doesn't clearly show he committed the crime.
“How can you convict anybody of such a heinous crime when there's nothing that points that he did it,” Walton responded.
During Walton’s trial, prosecutors focused on testimony from a Henrico inmate who said Walton told him he was at Fuller’s house the night of the murder and blacked out, but woke up to find Fuller dead.
Walton said that story is simply not true.
“They're saying there is no DNA or nothin' and if someone went over there drunk they're not just going to do the perfect crime." he explained.
Also key to the prosecution’s case was Fuller’s credit card, which prosecutors said Walton used after Fuller’s death, and cellphone records that showed Walton near the crime scene during the time period when Fuller likely died.
But, Walton said he was at his girlfriend’s house that night.
“My girlfriend lives on Nine Mile Road, so my phone pinged off a tower on her road, not on Hermitage Road where my friend lived,” Walton said.
Taylor said the jury considered all the evidence before making a very purposeful decision, a decision Walton said he will fight as long as he is able.
“I think the truth is going to come out,” Walton said.
But, Taylor said she is “100 percent confident in the case her office put on.”
