A jury convicted Delmar Partin in 1993 for the murder of Betty Carnes in Knox County.

Prosecutors said he decapitated Carnes and put her body into a barrel. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Tom Handy prosecuted this trial more than 20 years ago. He says there is no doubt Partin committed the crime.

Matt Bevin pardoned Partin and in his pardon statement, he wrote that he granted the pardon due to the state’s inability or unwillingness to use existing DNA evidence to either affirm or disprove the conviction.

That statement refers to a request from Partin in 2008 for a DNA sample on a hair found in Partin’s trash can. The request was denied.

Kentucky lawmakers are looking into appointing a special prosecutor to investigate some of Bevin’s pardons.