SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court has overturned the conviction of a man accused in the notorious Los Angeles Skid Row Stabber slayings.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Tuesday ordered a new trial for Bobby Joe Maxwell, saying his 1984 conviction was based largely on the false testimony of an "infamous" jailhouse snitch.
Maxwell was charged with killing 10 homeless people in Los Angeles' Skid Row section in 1978 and 1979.
A jury convicted him of two of the killings after his cellmate, Sidney Storch, testified that Maxwell confessed to the slayings.
But the federal appeals court said Storch's testimony was unreliable because he was a habitual liar.
Skid Row Stabber: Court Overturns Conviction of L.A. Skid Row Stabber Bobby Joe Maxwell - ktla.com