Court weighs vacating convictions of man who killed 3 men

By PHILIP MARCELO
Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court is considering whether to vacate two of the murder convictions of a man who killed three men in New England more than 20 years ago and died in prison while appealing his death sentence for one of those slayings. Federal prosecutors and defense lawyers are expected to submit legal briefs this month on the impact of Gary Lee Sampson’s Dec. 21 death on his appeal and underlying convictions. The office of the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts declined to comment. But one of Sampson’s lawyers said her late client’s appeal didn’t seek to challenge the legality of his conviction but the decision to sentence him to death.