David Hosier was sentenced Tuesday to die for the September 2009 murder of Angela Gilpin in Jefferson City.
But during those court proceedings Tuesday, Hosier denied killing Angela, 45, and her estranged husband Rodney, 61.
The hearing before Presiding Judge Pat Joyce began with a motion by Hosier's attorneys - public defenders Donald Catlett and Janice Zembles - that their client should get a new trial.
Zembles argued there was no evidence that Hosier had burglarized Angela's residence in the 1100 block of West High Street and that the killings actually took place in a common area of the building.
Despite this and other details Zembles said should have been addressed in the trial, Joyce denied the motion for a new trial.
Before sentencing, some family members of Angela were allowed to read statements.
Robert Eichholz, Angela's brother, read statements from family members who were unable to attend the proceedings.
"I thought this would make me happier, but it has not," Eichholz read. "Although we're happy with the verdict, not much has changed."
Anglea's mother, Barbara Eichholz, said, "There is no way to express the loss of a daughter. No one should have to bury a child. I've lost sleep and interest to do some of the simple things in life. It's hard for me to believe I will never hear her giggle again. I'm 75, and I know I'll never get to see it. But by ordering the death sentence, I will get the satisfaction that it will happen."
Joyce then imposed the death penalty and said the Missouri Supreme Court would set the time of the execution by lethal injection.
When asked if he felt he had been adequately represented, Hosier said, "I don't know how to answer that."
He then went on for about 10 minutes, stating he was innocent.
"I stand here now convicted of a crime I didn't commit," he said. "I had a father and a cousin who were murdered, and I would never want a family to go through that. I know I committed adultery for having an affair with a married woman, but I did not kill her, and I didn't kill Rodney. I loved them both. My feeling is no I didn't get a fair trial, but that decision should be made by people who know more than me. I know there was things I didn't get to see that I wanted to. There was no witnesses or ballistics that could link me to the killings. I was not in Jefferson City when the killings occurred, and I didn't know about them until I was told by Oklahoma authorities when I was arrested there. I didn't flee to Oklahoma. When I have an issue, I get in the car and drive. Had I known I would have needed an alibi I would have gotten one."
Joyce then closed the proceedings, and Hosier was taken out to be eventually transferred to the Missouri Department of Corrections.
After the proceedings, Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson said: "The facts in this case showed there was no doubt who killed the Gilpins. The evidence pointed to one person and one person only."
He said this was the first death penalty case prosecuted in Cole County since 1994.
This sentence was only for the death of Angela.
As far as Rodney's murder, Richardson said, "There is no statute of limitations on a murder case. We'll be looking at what to do, talking with Rodney's family, and make a decision from that."
He did not say how soon that decision could come.
A nine-man, three-woman jury from St. Charles County deliberated for just more than an hour on Oct. 23 before convicting Hosier, 58, of first-degree murder for killing Angela.
The same jury spent about two hours and 45 minutes on Oct. 25 before recommending Hosier be executed for that murder.
At Tuesday's proceedings, Joyce also sentenced Hosier for his conviction on charges of armed criminal action, first-degree burglary and illegally possessing a weapon because he's a convicted felon, totaling more than 30 years.
Rodney Gilpin, 61, was Angela's estranged husband, but the two were reconciling. Richardson argued Hosier had developed a relationship with Angela during the Gilpins' separation, then killed both of them because he was unhappy the couple was reconciling.
Their bodies were found together in the doorway to Angela's apartment in the 1100 block of West High Street.
Angela Gilpin was shot six times, including two shots to her head, and Rodney Gilpin died from three shots in the chest, and also had been hit in his elbow.
Richardson told jurors that Hosier waited in the hallway outside Angela's apartment - knowing she left about 3 a.m. each day for her job as manager of the Wardsville Bee Line Convenience Store - and "sprayed them both with bullets" from a 9 mm Sten submachine gun he had assembled from a kit.
Posted earlier:
Cole County Presiding Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce on Tuesday denied a motion for a new trial for David Hosier, convicted in the September 2009 killing of Angie Gilpin.
Joyce on Tuesday ordered the death penalty be handed down in the case.
A nine-man, three-woman jury from St. Charles County deliberated for just more than an hour on Oct. 23 before convicting Hosier, 58, of first-degree murder for killing Gilpin, 45, on Sept. 28, 2009.
The same jury spent about two hours and 45 minutes on Oct. 25 before recommending Hosier be executed for that murder.
Hosier's public defenders, Donald Catlett and Janice Zembles, had asked Joyce to overturn the convictions and hold a new trial. They had filed a 46-page motion raising 46 issues with procedural decisions Joyce made during the trial or the various pre-trial hearings.