FRANKFORT, Ky. (May 8, 2025) – Attorney General Russell Coleman announced today a federal court denied the appeals of one of Eastern Kentucky’s most notorious murderers and upheld his lawfully imposed capital sentence. On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, following a special sitting from all 18 judges of the court, rejected the latest attempt from Benny Lee Hodge to escape justice. Hodge was convicted by a jury in 1986 for the murder of Tammy Acker, 23, and attacking her father, Dr. Roscoe Acker, in Letcher County.
In 1985, Hodge and an accomplice posed as FBI agents to enter Dr. Acker’s home. Once inside, they tied up the victims, forced Dr. Acker to open his safe, strangled him until he lost consciousness and brutally stabbed his daughter, Tammy, at least 10 times using a kitchen knife.
After a three-judge panel overturned Hodge’s sentence last year, General Coleman asked the entire appellate court to reconsider. In a rare move, all the judges of the Sixth Circuit agreed to rehear the case. In a 14-4 decision Wednesday, written by Kentucky’s own Judge John Bush, the judges rejected Hodge’s arguments and upheld his lawful sentence delivered by a Kentucky jury.
“For nearly four decades, this brutal murderer has tried to escape justice, hoping that we would eventually give up and forget about this case. We never forgot about this tragedy, about the Acker family and about the justice they were promised,” said Attorney General Coleman. “Every Kentuckian will be safer when this convicted criminal faces his lawful sentence.”
Since his conviction, Hodge has filed numerous appeals seeking to avoid punishment. In their opinion, the judges underscore the high costs of the delays. “The public suffers—particularly surviving victims and loved ones—when we allow previously convicted perpetrators of violent and deadly crimes to relitigate their convictions or sentences, or both, many years after the trial (in this case decades), after evidence has gone stale or been lost, and the percipient witnesses (like Dr. Acker) have died,” the judges wrote.
Tawny Acker, Tammy’s sister, expressed her relief at the result. “I want to thank Attorney General Russell Coleman and his staff for their excellent preparation and presentation to uphold the sentencing of a cold blooded murderer before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals,” said Ms. Acker. “They stood masterfully in the gap, defending justice and protecting the safety of my family and the safety of all families in the Commonwealth.”
Kentucky Solicitor General Matt Kuhn presented the Commonwealth’s case before the Sixth Circuit. Assistant Solicitor General Jacob Abrahamson also supported the Commonwealth’s efforts. Erica Paske with the Attorney General’s Office of Victims Advocacy provided services to the victim’s family.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan) is an intermediate federal appellate court one step below the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read the Sixth Circuit’s Opinion.
Download Tammy Acker’s photo.
Background
While upholding this sentence, General Coleman has also sought to end the 15-year ban on the lawful imposition of the death penalty in Kentucky. In 2010, the Franklin Circuit Court blocked any imposition of the death penalty in the Commonwealth until certain criteria were met. The Beshear Administration adopted an amended capital punishment regulation last year, which brought the Commonwealth’s policy into full compliance with the Franklin Circuit Court’s previous rulings.
Since then, General Coleman has sought to end the extended delay.