Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 2, 1994 TAG: 9404020109
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ADRIENNE PETTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE LENGTH: Short
Johnny Mosier, 26, of Memphis, Tenn., received a 30-year sentence for two second-degree murder convictions in the deaths of James and Evelyn Merritt under a plea agreement reached in Martinsville Circuit Court.
Mosier admitted 11 days ago that he and Lawrence Tolbert Joshlin, posing as deliverymen, conned their way into the couple's home, bound them in duct tape and electrical cord, and left them to die.
Joshlin received a 26-year sentence Thursday for two first-degree murder convictions.
Although Mosier was convicted on a lesser charge than Josier, he was given more prison time because he has a previous record, said J. Randolph Smith, Martinsville commonwealth's attorney.
Some family members left the courtroom in disgust after Mosier's sentence was pronounced.
"I can't believe this is happening," Willard Ashby, a nephew, said. "I can't believe law people are standing around letting this happen. If I had a damn gun I probably would have shot it."
Ashby got into an argument with Smith over the plea agreements and accused the prosecutor of being afraid to take the case to a jury. Smith said juries in the city have been returning lenient sentences.
The Merritts, retired factory workers in their 70s, were found dead on the floor of their ransacked home in February 1993 after neighbors became concerned when they hadn't seen the couple for several days.
An autopsy showed the Merritts had died of dehydration and asphyxiation.
The Associated Press supplied information for this story.
by CNB