Shep Wilson Jr., 50, of Talladega County, succumbed to liver failure due to hepatitis C on June 12 at the infirmary of the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer. He was buried by his family on Tuesday.

Wilson was convicted by a jury in 1986 for the murder and rape of store clerk Monica Cook, 19, of Sycamore and had been on death row since then. On Nov. 30, 1990, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed the death sentence and sent the case back to the Talladega County Circuit Court because a prosecutor violated Wilson's rights.

Since March 11, 1991, the first day set for retrial, hearings were stalled by weeks and months of postponements called by defense lawyers, Wilson's mental evaluation in 1996, a sick lawyer and changes of judges and prosecutors. The last hearing on June 9 was also postponed because Wilson was too ill to attend.

Wilson's family was thankful he was not executed but was angry at the same time because he did not get the retrial.

A relative of Wilson's victim commented he deserved the incarceration.