Killer of 8 sentenced in North Carolina

By he Associated Press CARTHAGE, N.C. (AP) Robert Stewart showed the same lack of emotion when a jury found him guilty of attempted murder Saturday as witnesses say he displayed when he gunned down eight people during a North Carolina nursing home during one of the worst massacres in state history.Stewart, 47, will not face the death penalty because jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder, meaning they believe he lacked the premeditation as well as deliberation necessary for a first-degree conviction. Instead, Moore County Superior Court Judge James Webb sentenced the disabled painter as well as National Guard veteran to between roughly 141 as well as 177 years in prison.That male killed my mom like she was a roach, said Linda Feola, whose mother, 98-year-old Louise DeKler, was shot during close range by Stewart during Pinelake Health as well as Rehabilitation Center in Carthage on March 29, 2009. That male will not be where my mom is. There is no way.Ive heard tell he was saved. Not in this world.Stewart, who skeleton to appeal the verdict, looked on without visible reaction as relatives of the victims voiced their grief as well as anger before the sentence was pronounced.It feels like youve had a part of your body removed that you know you cant ever get back again, said Bernice Presnell, whose mother, 75-year-old Tessie Garner, was among the victims.The victims during the nursing home, along with DeKler as well as Garner, were Jesse Musser, 88; Margaret Johnson, 89; John Goldston, 78; Bessie Hedrick, 78; Lillian Dunn, 89; as well as Jerry Avant, 39, a Coast Guard veteran as well as nurse worked during the facility.If he could go back as well as fix this in some way I know he would do that, said Jonathan Megerian, one of Stewarts lawyers. And I know that he is honestly full of remorse, for what t! hats wor th.Stewart, who did not testify during the month-long trial, was acquitted of two charges of attempted first-degree attempted murder involving two victims who were bleeding but not killed. He was convicted on multiple assault as well as firearms charges in addition to the eight attempted murder charges.There was never any doubt that Stewart arrived during Pinelake that Sunday morning with four firearms, three of which he brought inside with him. He was looking for his wife, Wanda Neal, who had left him about two weeks progressing as well as who worked during the nursing home. She was safely in a locked ward, but Stewart walked the halls for about five minutes, shooting people seemingly during random.He shot defenseless, elderly residents as they sat in wheelchairs as well as as they lay in bed, walking up to within a few feet of some of them before pointing his 12-gauge shotgun as well as firing. As nurse Avant lay mortally bleeding on the floor, he was attended by his fiance, a fellow employee.He knew he was not going to make it, as well as he just wanted me to urge with him, said Jill DeGarmo. I know he did not leave this earth with hatred in his heart for anyone.Neal tried to dedicate suicide on the eve of the trial, but recovered as well as testified against her ex-husband, saying she left him after becoming fed up with his jealousy as well as short temper. After the verdict, she said she was satisfied.He got what he deserved, she said. I hope he rots in hell.The outcome is during least a partial victory for Stewarts defense team, which kept him off death row by arguing that Stewart was too addled to be capable of the premeditation as well as deliberation necessary for a first-degree attempted murder conviction.They also argued that Stewart suffered from mental illness including depression as well as borderline celebrity disorder, as well as that he had been taking regular doses of the prescription sleep aid Ambien far in excess of the recommended limit. Combined with prescriptions for an antidepress! ant as w ell as anti-anxiety drug, they argued, it made Stewart essentially a lethal sleepwalker.Such so-called diminished capacity defenses are rare, as well as have only been allowed in North Carolina courts since 1988. Assistant District Attorney Peter Strickland said after the outcome that he would have preferred a conviction on first-degree charges.I apologize to the families for not being able to get the convictions we were hoping to get, he said. The jury apparently felt there was something to his defense.Jurors declined to talk with reporters after the trial concluded. The jury had been picked about an hours drive west, in Stanly County, because of concerns that Stewart couldnt get a fair trial in the place where the massacre happened.As the verdicts were read, victims relatives broke down as well as cried or embraced each other, all the while looking during Stewart, who remained impassive.Every person who has been in this courtroom has possibly shed a tear or showed that this affected them somehow, DeGarmo said. The only person Ive not seen show any emotion or caring is Robert Stewart. Return to Paging Mode