A Kentucky jury came down hard on a Napa Valley man hired by a formerCalifornia Highway Patrolcaptain to kill her husband in atwisted murder-for-hireplot – even after the killer’s distraught children begged for mercy.
Cumberland County jurors on Monday recommended the most severe penalty they could, life in prison, for Thomas O’Donnell, in the killing of Michael Harding, the estranged husband of CHP captain Julie Harding.
O’Donnell wasconvicted of murderby that same jury last Friday. The jurors could have recommended a sentence ranging anywhere from 20 to 50 years in prison, or life in prison,KCRA 3 reported.
It took the jury only about 30 minutes to unanimously agree on a life sentence for the stunned 64-year-old, who was placed in handcuffs and led out of the courtroom after the jurors issued their shocking decree.
Prosecutors said Harding hired O’Donnell to kill her husband amid a nasty divorce, and presented reams of evidence to prove their case over a trial that lasted weeks.
The jury heard from O’Donnell’s children, who asked for forgiveness for their now-convicted father.
They said the killer was fun and the life of the party. His life was a little chaotic, they said, and he was always searching for his soulmate and always had a new girlfriend.
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O’Donnell’s daughter said he was too trusting of others.
Meanwhile, the dead man’s two children had traveled to Kentucky from Sacramento, to argue for justice for their dad.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
