40 YEAR SENTENCES FOR DUVALL AND MOORE FOR 1999 MURDER

May 15, 2009
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(Anderson, SC). An Anderson County jury returned a guilty verdict tonight in the murder trial of Garvin Vaughn Duvall, 50, and Frances Moore, 61, for the 1999 murder of Robert Paul Stephens. The Honorable Cordell Maddox sentenced each defendant to 40 years. 

In November of 2006, investigators going over cold cases uncovered information leading to witnesses linking the two to Stephens’ death. Duvall and Moore were arrested and charged with Murder, Conspiracy, and Possession of a Weapon During the Commission of a Violent Crime. 

According to witness testimony, Frances Moore and her friend Garvin Duvall had been seen at the location on Baugh Road, just inside the Anderson County line where a fireman responding to a report of a vehicle on fire found Robert Paul Stephens lying on the ground beside the car. Mr. Stephens had been shot twice. Testimony revealed that Ms. Moore had offered $2000 to Duvall to kill Stephens, the estranged husband of her daughter. 

“The family of Robert Paul Stephens has waited 10 years to see justice for his senseless death. Hopefully now they can have some closure knowing that the two people responsible will spend the next 40 years of their lives behind bars.” Solicitor Chrissy Adams.