Curtis Wayne Wright was sentenced on Monday to 25 years in prison in the homicide of Dr. Teresa Sievers.
Originally charged with first-degree murder, Wright admitted to helping kill Dr. Sievers, and bargained down to second-degree murder. In exchange, Wright threw Sievers’s husband Mark Sievers and Jimmy Ray Rodgers under the bus.
Moments before sentencing, Curtis Wright addressed the judge and then turned to Teresa Sievers’ mom, “That will be with me for the rest of my life. And I’m truly sorry, I’m sorry.” #SieversTrial #WrightSentencing @winknews pic.twitter.com/8cfXcRmfuQ
— Brooke Shafer (@BrookeWINKNews) February 10, 2020
Wright said that Mark Sievers recruited him to kill the victim, and he in turn got Rodgers to help out. The co-defendants denied the allegations, but both failed in court. Rodgers, who was charged with first-degree murder but convicted of second-degree murder, was sentenced to life in prison. Sievers, the mastermind, got the death penalty. His attorneys tried to argue that Wright, who pleaded guilty in the murder in exchange for the 25-year prison sentence, was the only direct evidence against the defendant.
#SieversTrial – Mark Sievers sentenced to death this morning for the murder of his wife Teresa Sievers. pic.twitter.com/Bla425Q7TV
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) January 3, 2020
Rodgers’s former girlfriend Taylor Shomaker testified that he confessed the murder to her.
#SieversTrial – Shomaker testified that following Dr. Sievers’ murder she asked Rodgers if he “killed her” and he said yes. Shomaker asked if it was with a gun and Rodgers said, no it was a hammer. pic.twitter.com/hL4rPtem3R
— Law & Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) October 16, 2019
Neither of the defendants testified at trial.
Prosecutors said Wright and Rodgers ambushed Dr. Sievers when she returned home alone from a family vacation.
#SieversTrial – Hunter shows the jury “Secret” Communications between Sievers and Wright about the prepaid “burner” phones. Hunter says this shows conspiracy. pic.twitter.com/kSl1zWbE93
— Law & Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) December 4, 2019
[Screengrab via Law&Crime Network]
