CARTHAGE, Mo. (AP) — A Carthage man has pleaded guilty to shooting his estranged wife and killing a man at a motel last year before stealing two vehicles and injuring a police officer at a church service.
In a plea deal Monday, Lane Stephens, 30, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery. He was scheduled to go to trial next week on first-degree murder and several other charges.
Stephens was sentenced to life with a possibility of parole on the murder charge and a concurrent 10-year sentence on the robbery charge, the Joplin Globe reported.
Prosecutors said Stephens killed Don Pierce, 43, and wounded Toni Stephens, 25, at a Quality Inn in Carthage on Aug. 1, 2020.
Toni Stephens told police she and Pierce were not romantically involved but authorities believed Lane Stephens thought otherwise, Carthage police Chief Greg Dagnan said at the time of the shootings.
Stephens hijacked two vehicles as he fled the motel. He was arrested after he entered First Christian Church in Lamar the day after the shooting.
Stephens cut Officer John Simpson on the hand as the officer was trying to arrest him. Three church members who helped Simpson get Stephens under control were awarded public safety medals by the Missouri governor earlier this year.