Prosecutor plans to retry Lankford BOISE - A man who spent 25 years behind bars for murder scored a legal victory today – after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by the state of Idaho in his case.

A jury convicted Mark Lankford of killing Marine Captain Robert Bravence and his wife Cheryl. The couple’s bodies were found in rural Idaho County after police found their abandoned van near a Los Angeles bus terminal in1983.

"I was illegally convicted of a double murder that was committed by someone else who has confessed," Lankford told NewsChannel 7 in a prison interview Monday afternoon.

Lankford and his brother Bryan, were both arrested and charged with the crime, and in separate trials blamed each other for killing the couple. There were no witnesses to the murder and no weapon ever recovered.

Because of a plea agreement, Bryan was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Bryan has recanted his story several times and has confessed to killing the Texas couple, saying he acted alone.

Despite that confession, Mark was ordered to be executed - a ruling he began appealing since the day it came down more than 22 years ago.

In November of 2006, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Lankford be retried or released from prison, after the court found improper jury instructions were given by his attorney.

With the US Supreme Court ruling, the state now must follow the Ninth Circuit’s original instructions – to file new charges in the case against Lankford, or release him from prison.

The Idaho County Prosecutor’s has jurisdiction in the case – and must now decide if they will file new charges in the case. Calls to the prosecutor’s office in Grangeville were not immediately returned.

The prosecutor tells KTVB that charges will be refiled in the case - and that Lankford could be transfered back to an Idaho County jail within 30-60 days.

Lankford said he is hopeful about the decision.

“I've always been innocent, and I've always said that and I've never deviated,” Lankford said. “The evidence conforms to (my brother’s) confession after the fact.”