He spent 12 years, 7 months, and 16 days on death row as his case was appealed through the state and federal court systems.

On September 14, 1989, Leslie Keckler applied for a waitress job at a Bowling Green restaurant where Fox worked as a grill cook.

Fox gleaned Keckler's telephone number from the application and asked her to meet him for an interview for a restaurant supply sales job.

However, a clasp on her brassiere was broken, her belt was unbuckled, two dress buttons were missing, and her pantyhose was torn in the crotch.

The autopsy revealed that Keckler had died as a result of asphyxia from ligature strangulation and multiple stab wounds.

Her right wrist had a deep defensive wound gash, and her face had bruises on her left eye, upper lip, and nose consistent with blunt force injury.

Fox began making suggestive comments and told the woman he thought her dress was too long.

A check of the employees at the restaurants where the two women applied for jobs revealed an interesting coincidence: Fox was employed at both places.

Before Fox was placed under arrest, he admitted that in early May he had worked at a restaurant where his first intended victim had applied for a job, that he met her at the motel, and that he took her for a drive and discussed her skirt length.

Fox told police he got a knife out of the glove compartment and stabbed Keckler in the back, after which he got a rope out of the trunk "just to make sure she was dead" and strangled her.

At Fox's clemency hearing where the parole board listens to arguments why it should or should not recommend that the governor commute a death sentence, it was revealed that Fox had written a letter apologizing to the Keckler family for his actions:[This quote needs a citation] Neither that letter nor his teenage daughter's tearful plea not to be made an orphan (her mother had earlier committed suicide) swayed the parole board.