(Louisville, Kentucky) After more than three years of procedural wrangling, Gail Coontz has pleaded guilty to murder per an agreement with the prosecution.Judge Mary Shaw sentenced Coontz, 41, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years, a sudden end to the high-profile case in which Coontz faced a potential death penalty. Her trial had been scheduled to begin in a week.Heh.
A plea deal to resolve the case came together quickly, starting late Thursday night when prosecutors changed a previous plea offer of life in prison without parole to life with the possibility of parole in 25 years.
Coontz accepted the offer, pleading guilty to two charges of murder, tampering with physical evidence, terroristic threatening, unlawful imprisonment and wanton endangerment.
Her voice was barely audible as she admitted her guilt to Shaw, sometimes just nodding her head as the judge spoke.
Kentucky Mom Admits Killing Her Children
[Previous 5/19/08 post]
(Louisville, Kentucky) A 37-year-old local woman and University of Louisville student, Gail Coontz, has been indicted for the murders of her two children.
Coontz was initially arrested in March after brandishing a gun and holding a University of Louisville counselor hostage.
The two children, 10-year-old Nikki and 14-year-old Greg, were subsequently found in their beds, shot multiple times as they were sleeping.
Nikki & Greg Coontz
A police report said Coontz admitted she had killed her children and pulled a gun on a psychologist and an officer at the counseling center, threatening to harm herself and others.Coontz is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow.
After about 15 minutes, Coontz gave her gun to the psychologist, police have said.
Coontz has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one count of terroristic threatening and tampering with evidence and is being held at Metro Corrections on $500,000 bail.
No comments:
Post a Comment