ATLANTA --- A judge's comments led the Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday to overturn the murder conviction of a Columbia County man who confessed twice to killing his mother.

The high court concluded that Tom Chumley was undeniably guilty, but that Superior Court Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet's comments about the confessions were clearly prejudicial to the jury.

In the decision, Justice George Carley wrote, "Construing this evidence most strongly in support of the verdicts, it was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Chumley was guilty of malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime."

Mr. Chumley was indicted on murder and weapons charges in April 2004, after authorities said he confessed to shooting Meredith Pete Guy, 74, who was found dead in her Twin Lakes Drive home Feb. 28, 2003.

An autopsy revealed that she died of two .22-caliber gunshot wounds to her upper back and head.

Mr. Chumley was sentenced in March 2005 to life in prison plus five years.

During the trial, Mr. Chumley's attorney, Richard Allen, acknowledged that the confessions were voluntarily made but said they were also false. On the witness stand, Mr. Chumley denied the crime and said the stress of being publicly named a suspect, marital problems and mental illness made him confess.

In his comments to the jury, Judge Overstreet noted that the confessions were made voluntarily. Justice Carley said they should have been presented without comment.

"Any reasonable juror, having heard (Judge Overstreet's) comments, might well construe them as an expression of opinion on the credibility of the admissions contained in the statements," he wrote.

The seven justices concluded that the comments required a new trial. No date has been set.