Man sentenced to life in prison for 3 Mo. murders

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) - The man who killed three Cape Girardeau residents in a botched murder-for-hire plot will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Ryan Patterson was sentenced Monday to three consecutive life sentences for the October 2009 murders of Jamie Orman, her teenage son, Derrick, and her unborn child.

The Southeast Missourian reports (http://bit.ly/mXjzOR) Patterson was the last of three conspirators sentenced in the plot.

Prosecutors say Michelle Lawrence wanted her estranged husband, John Lawrence, killed in order to collect an insurance policy.

Patterson, who was dating Michelle Lawrence, went to her husband's home with Samuel "Ray-Ray" Hughes. When they didn't find him there, they killed the three victims. Orman was dating John Lawrence.

Michelle Lawrence and Hughes have both been sentenced to prison for their roles in the deaths.

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Information from: Southeast Missourian, www.semissourian.com