Holmes, 29, is condemned to die for the slaying of Julian Brandon, who was hacked to death on New Year's Day 2003 after he answered the door at his home near Blanchard. His wife, Alice, Brandon was shot in the head but survived, although she was left permanently disabled. The couple was robbed.

The Supreme Court upheld Holmes' conviction and sentence today in a 5-2 ruling.

Chief Justice Pascal Calogero and Justice Bernette Johnson wrote separate dissents focusing on arguments that Holmes was mentally retarded and therefore could not be sentenced to death.

The trial lawyer did not ask jurors for a verdict on mental retardation or ask the judge to instruct jurors that a finding of retardation would rule out the death penalty.

Last year, a sharply divided supreme court overturned the conviction and death sentence and ordered a new trial for Holmes' co-defendant, Robert Coleman, saying a black man was improperly excluded from the jury, in violation of a prohibition on excluding jurors solely on the basis of race. Coleman is black.

No trial date has been set for Coleman, 39. Prosecutors said they will again seek the death penalty.

Brandon's widow, Alice, died after the attack, died in October. She had been living with her daughter in Texas since she got out of the hospital.