MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WTVM) – The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the intentional murder conviction of Payton Jerel Wiggins, 25, of Phenix City, Attorney General Steve Marshall announced.
Wiggins was convicted in Russell County Circuit Court on Oct. 30, 2024.
Details of the case
Evidence at trial showed that in March 2021, Wiggins was in the process of renting an apartment in Phenix City when he murdered the apartment owner’s handyman in an unprovoked attack with a knife. Wiggins was discovered straddling the victim’s body and stabbing him numerous times. Wiggins gave investigators three different versions of what happened on the day of the murder.
Russell County District Attorney Rick Chancey prosecuted the case and obtained a guilty verdict. Wiggins was sentenced to life imprisonment for his intentional murder conviction…