Troy Kell

For her part in the crime Shaw was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In 2004, the State Board of Pardons and Parole commuted her sentence making her eligible for parole. She served 21 years of her sentence and was released on parole in December 2007. William Merritt, who testified against Kell, was released from prison after serving only 4 years of an 8-to-12-year, plea-bargained sentence. He later returned for subsequent crimes, and is now serving life in prison without parole. Troy Kell was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Due to security concerns, the state won the right to hold Kell's trial in a courtroom within the Utah State Prison facility. Convicted of aggravated murder, the state pushed for and secured a death penalty verdict from the jury. In 2003, he came within a month of execution by firing squad, but eventually chose to file an appeal. As of January 2016 Kell remains on death row, as his appeals process continues.

HBO, in cooperation with Blowback Productions, filmed a documentary, entitled Gladiator Days: Anatomy of a Prison Murder, released in 2002. It tells the story of Troy Kell and Eric Daniels' murder of Lonnie Blackmon, and shows footage of the initial trial in 1986; statements from Kell, Daniels, guards, the state attorney, Blackmon's brother, and Sandra Shaw (who was serving time elsewhere as the instigator of Kell's first murder, for which Kell was originally incarcerated); and footage of the attack captured by the CCTV within the Utah Prison in Gunnison, Utah.

Kell was originally imprisoned in the state of Nevada for the murder of 21-year-old James "Cotton" Kelly. Although tried for killing "Kelly", the victim's real name was James Thiede, a Canadian citizen who was under investigation for drug smuggling by the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Some years later, Thiede's mother, father and uncle were federally indicted both in Las Vegas and Toronto for drug smuggling, all using the same alias, "Kelly". In 1986, Kell, then age 18, was asked by his 15-year-old long-time friend, Sandy Shaw, to beat Cotton Kelly for relentlessly stalking Shaw for sex. Her mother had gone to the police earlier, but there were no stalking laws on the books at that time, which caused Shaw to turn to Kell, her childhood protector from her old neighborhood.

Troy Michael Kell (born June 13, 1968) is an inmate on death row in Utah. Kell was sentenced to life in prison by the State of Nevada for the 1986 murder of James "Cotton" Kelly. Shortly after his conviction he was transferred to the Utah State Prison as part of a prisoner exchange program. On July 6, 1994, Kell attacked and killed inmate Lonnie Blackmon at the Utah Department of Corrections Gunnison facility, stabbing Blackmon a total of 67 times while his associate, Eric Daniels, held Blackmon down. Kell was sentenced to death by firing squad for his part in the murder.