High court upholds James Sullivan’s murder conviction

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday upheld the murder conviction against James Sullivan, who is serving life without parole for the 1987 contract killing of his wife.

Lita McClinton Sullivan, 35, was shot and killed by a hit man bearing a box of pink roses when she answered the door at her Buckhead townhouse.

The murder, one of the city’s most notorious, remained unsolved until James Sullivan was arrested 15 years later in Thailand. A local citizen had seen Sullivan on “America’s Most Wanted” and tipped authorities to his whereabouts.

Sullivan, who had inherited a liquor distributorship, was at his Florida mansion at the time of the killing. He fled to Costa Rica before settling in Thailand.

After his extradition back to the United States, Sullivan was convicted of his wife’s murder during a 2006 trial. Although Fulton County prosecutors sought the death penalty, jurors recommended a sentence of life without parole.

Monday’s decision upholding the murder conviction was unanimous. “The evidence was sufficient to enable the jury to determine that [Sullivan] was guilty of the crimes for which he was convicted beyond a reasonable doubt,” Justice Harold Melton wrote.