Mo. man appeals sentence in double homicide

CARTHAGE, Mo. (AP) - A southwest Missouri man who pleaded guilty to murdering a rural Carthage couple is asking a court to reconsider his sentence.

Twenty-four-year-old Darren Winans says in a motion filed in Jasper County Court that his attorneys failed him during the plea agreement process.

Winans pleaded guilty in February to two counts of second-degree murder in the October 2008 murders of Bob and Ellen Sheldon in their home near Carthage. He was sentenced to two life terms for the murders, and 77 years on other charges.

The Carthage Press reports (http://bit.ly/vKuRR4) that Winans makes several claims in his motion, including that he was misled about the amount of time he would serve.

A co-defendant, Matthew Laurin, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder but later committed suicide in the Jasper County jail.

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Information from: Carthage Press , http://carthagepress.com

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