Judge upholds life sentences for Murdock murders
The life sentences given to the Wisconsin pair convicted of breaking into a farmhouse near Murdock and shooting two people to death in 2006 were upheld Friday by the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Jessica Reid and Gregory Fester had argued the sentences were excessive. The court, in two separate rulings, said they weren’t.
“Two innocent people were callously murdered in the solitude and sanctity of their own home,” Judge John Gerrard wrote for the court in its decision on Fester.
Fester and Reid broke into Wayne and Sharmon Stock’s southeast Nebraska home on April 17, 2006. They shot and killed the Murdock couple as part of a burglary.
Both Reid and Fester, who are from Horicon, Wis., pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges in hopes of avoiding life sentences. But they each received two consecutive life sentences earlier this year.
Fester also was sentenced to an additional 10 to 20 years on a weapons charge.
Attorneys for the couple could not be immediately reached for comment.
Jessica Reid and Gregory Fester had argued the sentences were excessive. The court, in two separate rulings, said they weren’t.
“Two innocent people were callously murdered in the solitude and sanctity of their own home,” Judge John Gerrard wrote for the court in its decision on Fester.
Fester and Reid broke into Wayne and Sharmon Stock’s southeast Nebraska home on April 17, 2006. They shot and killed the Murdock couple as part of a burglary.
Both Reid and Fester, who are from Horicon, Wis., pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges in hopes of avoiding life sentences. But they each received two consecutive life sentences earlier this year.
Fester also was sentenced to an additional 10 to 20 years on a weapons charge.
Attorneys for the couple could not be immediately reached for comment.
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