Man Convicted of Asphyxiating His 14-Month-Old Twins

MONROEVILLE, Ala. — A jury Tuesday convicted a man of murdering his 14-month-old twin daughters, who were asphyxiated by fumes one day after an $806 child-support payment was deducted from his paycheck.

However, the jury in the town where “To Kill a Mockingbird” was set spared 28-year-old Stanley Kidd from a possible death sentence. The mill worker could get life in prison at sentencing Aug. 30. Kidd tearfully said the deaths were accidental.

Prosecutors accused him of a chilling scheme to avoid child support and collect $16,000 in insurance benefits. They theorized he killed the youngsters by pumping carbon monoxide from the exhaust pipe of his car into the back seat where the twins were strapped, or by altering a gas heater at the house.