NAPLES, FLa. (AP) - A Florida man faces a possible death sentence for arranging his wife’s murder.
A Lee County jury found Mark Sievers, 51, guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, the Naples Daily News reported. Jurors will return Tuesday for the penalty phase, where they will recommend life in prison or execution. Florida law requires a unanimous decision for the death penalty.
Dr. Teresa Sievers was found dead at her Bonita Springs home from an apparent hammer attack in June 2015, authorities said.
Mark Sievers recruited two Missouri men, Curtis Wayne Wright Jr., 51, and and Jimmy Ray Rodgers, 29, to kill his wife, prosecutors said. Sievers and Wright had been childhood friends in Missouri.
Wright and Rodgers killed Teresa Sievers with hammers after she returned home alone from a family vacation, prosecutors said. Mark Sievers was still on vacation with the couple’s two daughters and his wife’s family when the slaying occurred.
Wright previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for a 25-year sentence. He testified at Rodgers’ October trial that the Sievers were having marriage problems, and Mark Sievers feared losing his daughters. Rodgers was convicted of second-degree murder and faces a possible life sentence.
Prosecutors said Mark Sievers was also motivated in part by large life insurance policies on his wife.
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