Man convicted of killing Newport, Ky., woman in 1987 to get new trial

NEWPORT, Ky. (WDRB) – After spending 28 years in prison, William “Ricky” Virgil had his murder conviction thrown out by a Campbell Circuit Judge on Friday.

Virgil, 63, will remain in prison at least until bond is set next week. The Campbell Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office has asked for a $1 million bond.

Prosecutors plan to try him again for the murder of Retha Welch, a Veterans Administration nurse who was raped and killed in 1987. Virgil long has maintained he didn’t kill her.

At a hearing in Newport, Judge Fred A. Stine said a new trial is “the right thing to do” in light of DNA testing that wasn’t available when Virgil was convicted and sentenced to 70 years in prison in 1988.

The Kentucky Innocence Project took on Virgil as a client in 2010 and has pushed for a new trial. His attorneys say new evidence shows DNA testing of blood on Virgil’s clothes did not belong to Welch; hairs found on Welch’s clothing did not match Virgil; witnesses’ stories no longer held up under scrutiny; and other suspects were ignored.

“He’s been in prison…for a crime we now know he did not commit,” Linda Smith, director of the Innocence Project attorney told Stine.