WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — 34 years after his first arrest for murder, and 21 years since he was later sentenced to die, the appeals have been constant.

“This was a case that I lived with and continue to live with for years,” former Wichita County District Attorney Barry Macha said.

The death penalty brought down against Faryion Wardrip for the stabbing, rape and murder of 20-year old Terry Sims.

“I feel like the man has been given more appeals than anybody,” Terry’s sister Vickie Holmes said. “I just need closure.”

But that’s not all, Wardrip received three consecutive life sentences for a 16-month killing spree between 1984 and 1986 that left a total of five dead.

“I’m just glad I’m getting to see the end of it and I’m finally going to get the closure that I’ve been wanting,” Holmes said.

Holmes said each appeal or year that passes brings back all the memories from the past and she can’t help but still think about the life her sister would have built.

“I sit back and I try and think about who she was and what she could’ve been,” Holmes said. “She was in pre-med, she wanted to be a pediatrician and she wanted to specialize in working with autistic children.”

Barry Macha was the Wichita County district attorney at the time, he said this case will always stick with him.

Macha hopes this latest decision helps families see that justice was served.

“They will never have their loved ones, they’re gone, but I think seeing the process, you know, work, and going through the court system, I think is reassuring,” Macha said.

With so much time passing since the murders, many family members involved weren’t even able to see Wardrip’s death sentence handed down in 1999.

“Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters have all passed. So some of them did not live to see who was responsible and who was held responsible,” Macha said.

And that’s why it’s still at the forefront of Vickie’s mind daily, being the only one of Terry’s direct family members around to get this closure.

“I’ve got to see it through because I’m Terry’s last voice,” Holmes said.

Not only closure for Vickie, but also the four other families of Tina Kimbrew, Toni Gibbs, Ellen Blau and Deborah Taylor.

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WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL)— A Texoma serial killer’s appeal for a new trial is denied and his death sentence is now reinstated.

It was DNA that finally enabled Wichita County investigators to link Wardrip to a 16-month killing spree that left four other young women dead.

In 1999, Wardrip was sentenced to death by lethal injection for the first murder, and three life terms for the other three killings.

Former Wichita County Chief Appellate Attorney John Brasher said the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed on Monday the Federal District Court’s decision to grant Wardrip a new punishment trial.

The court had reversed the death sentence based on the claim of ineffective counsel.

Wardrip remains on death row at the Polunsky Unit near Livingston.