Judges order 2 men off death row in Miss.

JACKSON, Miss., Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Federal judges have ruled two men facing execution in Mississippi suffer mental disabilities that bar the death penalty in their cases.

Both James Billiot, 48, and William Wiley, 55, were convicted of killings committed in 1981 and have been on death row for more than 20 years. One judge ruled Billiot is mentally ill and ordered his transfer to a state hospital, while another said Wiley is retarded, the Jacksonville Clarion-Ledger reported.

Wiley killed J.B. Turner, owner of a convenience store in Mineral Wells, during a robbery. Turner's daughter was left blind.

"He admitted to us he did it," former DeSoto County Sheriff James Riley told the newspaper Tuesday. "We got the evidence, and he was tried and convicted."

Riley said he believes Wiley is competent, but U.S. District Judge Allen Pepper Jr. said three of four experts who have evaluated Wiley have ruled he is retarded.

Billiot was convicted of killing his mother, stepfather and stepsister with a sledge hammer. His lawyer, John Henegan of Jackson, said he has been diagnosed schizophrenic but could be returned to death row if he recovers.

The state can appeal the judges' decisions.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that mentally retarded inmates cannot be executed without violating the Eight Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishments.