NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A judge has sentenced two men to life in prison for the 2017 kidnapping, robbery and murder of an 86-year-old Florida man.
Prosecutors say 36-year-old Douglas Harrison Cercy and 23-year-old Ray Landis Jones III had pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. On Thursday, Judge Angela Cox also sentenced their accomplice, 39-year-old Jennifer Marie Schulte, to 40 years in prison.
The Florida Times-Union reports Melvin Clark’s wife reported him missing in April 2017 when he didn’t return from the store. He’d been lured to a hotel room for prostitution.
A man checking a hunting stand found Clark in a ditch, his throat slashed. He died July 26, 2017.
Prosecutors say the trio headed south and ditched the car in Miami. They were tracked through Clark’s cellphone and arrested.
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