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Adrian Gordon and Jimmy Dean Meinhard insist they didn't commit the murders that put them behind bars for up to life. And each believes that testing the DNA evidence in their respective cases would support their claim of innocence and could even point to the real killers.

So after their requests for the testing were denied by district court judges, they appealed to the Utah Supreme Court, which heard arguments in both cases on Friday. Both inmates are represented by attorneys working on behalf of the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center.

In Meinhard's case, attorney Troy Booher told the high court that DNA test results, coupled with other evidence, could prove his client's factual innocence.

Meinhard seeks tests of DNA found under the fingernails of Ronald Reed Peterson and of a fingerprint on the door of a car where the 38-year-old man was stabbed to death.

Now 70, Meinhard is serving a sentence of up to life in the Feb. 25, 1997, death of Peterson, a Kearns resident. The two men were seen fighting that day in Tooele, and shortly after the scuffle, witnesses saw Meinhard climb into the victim's car, according to court documents.

Peterson's car was found abandoned three days later near the Utah-Tooele county line, and his body was found on March 1 about 500 feet off of State Road 73 in Tooele County. He had been stabbed eight times, court documents say.

Meinhard's former wife and his roommate also were charged with murder in the slaying, but the charges were dropped against them and they testified at trial for the prosecution.

The roommate, Larry Thomas Taylor, now 70 — who pleaded guilty to evidence tampering and agreed to testify as part of a plea deal — claimed he accompanied Meinhard during the crime but did not participate beyond providing transportation.

Taylor said he followed Peterson's car after the fight at Meinhard's request and that when he caught up with him, Meinhard said he had killed Peterson. Taylor testified that he followed Meinhard and waited while he left the body in the hills and then followed him to another location, where he abandoned the car.

A few days later, Taylor testified, he and Meinhard returned to the abandoned car and wiped it down with bleach while wearing latex gloves.

Meinhard denied being the killer, and the defense theory was that the ex-wife and roommate had their own motives to commit murder and to falsely testify against him. However, a jury convicted him of murder and evidence tampering. He was sentenced to consecutive terms of five to life and one to 15 years in prison.

Third District Judge L.A. Dever denied a request for post-conviction testing in 2013. He said there was no proof that Peterson scratched the killer, so DNA testing could not prove Meinhard is innocent.

And, the judge said, Meinard cannot establish that the print on the door handle belongs to the murderer.

At Friday's hearing, Assistant Attorney General Andrew Peterson — who is not related to the victim — said a claim of factual innocence means "they did not do it," and DNA testing would not exclude Meinhard as the perpetrator.

The arguments in Gordon's case focused on whether his trial attorney did not request DNA testing for tactical reasons.

Gordon, 34, is serving a five-years-to-life prison term for the Sept. 29, 2001, slaying of a mentally ill man behind a Salt Lake City convenience store. Prosecutors contend Gordon fatally stomped 50-year-old Lee Lundskog — who had schizophrenia and went to the convenience store every day to buy cigarettes and Big Gulps — so he could steal $45 from his wallet.

The evidence against Gordon, then 20, was largely circumstantial, but 3rd District Judge Leslie Lewis, who heard the case without a jury, said she found it compelling. He was convicted of first-degree murder. At his 2002 sentencing, Gordon vowed to appeal, saying, "I'm in a fight for my life. An innocent man stands before you."

In 2013, his lawyers filed a petition for post-conviction DNA testing on some of the evidence, including Lundskog's wallet and the jumpsuit he was wearing.

Pointing out that prosecutors said robbery was the motive for the slaying, the petition says, "The absence of Mr. Gordon's DNA from Mr. Lundskog's wallet and jumpsuit pockets would significantly undermine the prosecution's theory. Further, a positive identification of a third party's DNA on the victim's wallet and clothing could point to a different perpetrator."

But 3rd District Judge Paul Maughan said the testing would not produce new evidence that would establish Gordon's innocence. In addition, he ruled that under Utah law, a court cannot order DNA testing when it was available at the time of trial and the defendant, for tactical reasons, did not request testing or present DNA evidence.

Booher said a lack of funds, rather than tactics, kept Gordon's trial attorneys from requesting DNA testing.

But Peterson countered that the decision was tactical because testing would have deprived the defense of the argument that the investigation of the crime was sloppy.

The justices took the cases under consideration and will issue rulings later.

Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC