Associated Press - March 9, 2010 3:34 PM ET

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The state Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld Keir D. Sanders' conviction in the death of his grandmother in 1985.

Sanders was sentenced to life in prison in Lee County in 2008.

Prosecutors say Elma Crawford was killed in her Tishomingo County home.

A jury found Sanders not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of his grandfather, W.D. Crawford. A judge sentenced Sanders to be confined to a state mental hospital after he was released from prison on his sentence for his grandmother's slaying.

Sanders was arrested in San Antonio, Texas, in 2005 after 20 years on the run.

The Appeals Court, in a 6-3 decision, rejected Sanders' claims that prosecutors didn't prove his guilt and that his sentence was erroneous.

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