Blanco County man convicted again in death goes free

LLANO Texas — A Blanco County man was convicted in the stabbing death of his common-law wife for a second time Wednesday, but set free after being sentenced to less than the time he’d already served.

James Tenny, 53, was found guilty of aggravated assault in the May 1997 death of Joyce Mulvey.

He was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday. Since Tenny had already served six years for the crime, he was set free.

During the retrial at the Llano County courthouse, Tenny contended he killed Mulvey in self defense during a struggle that began when she poured gasoline on him and tried to light him on fire.

Tenny won the retrial after a federal judge reversed the original 1999 murder conviction and 65-year prison term. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ruled that Tenny’s first attorney, John Bennett, should have presented a self-defense argument.

The verdict means Tenny no longer has to live under a ”cloud that he’s a murderer,” said his court-appointed attorney, Bill Schuurman.