PHOENIX (AP) - The Arizona Supreme Court has upheld the convictions and death sentence of a man convicted of murder in the 2010 stabbing death of the owner of a massage parlor in Mesa.
The state's highest court on Tuesday rejected James Clayton Johnson's argument that the state of Arizona didn't sufficiently narrow the class of first-degree murders that are eligible for the death penalty.
Johnson was convicted in the stabbing death of Xiaohung Fu.
Authorities say Johnson fled the scene in a pickup truck and was arrested three days later in a robbery of a Christmas tree lot.
They say Johnson was linked to the killing through DNA collected at the massage parlor and through cellphone tower data.
