The Colorado Supreme Court unanimously declined a new trial for a man convicted for orchestrating a double murder in 2005 this week.

Robert Keith Ray was convicted in 2009 for the murders of Javad Marshall-Fields and his fiancée Vivian Wolfe in Aurora, according to a news release from the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

In the decision, Justice William Hood III noted that even though there were issues with evidence during Ray’s trial, they did not undermine its fairness or the jury’s verdict, according to the release.

A year before the double murder, after an argument broke out at a music festival between Ray and the event organizers, Gregory Vann and Marshall-Fields, Vann was shot and killed by Sir Mario Owens while Marshall-Fields was injured, according to the release. Then, in 2005, Marshall-Fields and Wolfe were fatally shot by Ray before he could testify against Owens.

Both Ray and Owens were later convicted and sentenced to death for orchestrating the 2005 killings, though they had their sentences commuted to life in prison after Colorado repealed the death penalty in 2020, the release says.

“The Supreme Court’s unanimous affirmation of both Ray and Owens convictions ensures that the criminal justice system will seek out those who attack that justice system by killing witnesses,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Ann Tomsic said in the release.

Owens was separately convicted and had his convictions held up against a prior appeal, the release said.

“The Colorado Supreme Court has made it clear: Robert Ray will remain exactly where he belongs, behind bars for the rest of his life,” District Attorney Amy Padden said in the release. “The victims’ families and our community can take comfort in knowing these killers will never walk free.”