CLINTON, Okla. (KFOR) – A man who was accused of killing his mother just hours after he was released from the state penitentiary has been convicted of the crime. His brother spoke with News 4 about the trial.
“He actually took the stand and he said that he choked her after he had beat her,” Brent Rigsby told KFOR.
Brent’s is talking about his brother, Dennis Rigsby, who took the stand during his trial last week and talked about strangling their mother, 66-year-old Judy Mullin, with her own blouse.
“Just no feelings, no emotions for murdering his own mother,” he said.
Brent first contacted News 4 right after the homicide happened, saying his mom had driven to Oklahoma from California to pick Dennis up after he was released from the state penitentiary in McAlester where he served 17 years for a manslaughter conviction.
Dennis and Mullin were traveling in a camper and that’s where OSBI agents say Dennis killed Mullin once they reached Clinton.
“It was his selfishness. He wanted her new iPhone that she had just bought. It was the new iPhone 12 Pro, or whatever, and he wanted it and he threw a fit like he always has,” Brent said.
Brent said Dennis tried to plead insanity, but was found competent to stand trial.
During the trial, Brent told News 4 Dennis had several loud outbursts.
“He would stand up and just start saying the pledge of allegiance in the middle of the trial. Whenever something wasn’t going his way, he was throwing a fit whenever they would point out obvious evidence, when they showed the video of him confessing to what he did,” Brent said.
The jury found Dennis guilty of first-degree murder and recommended a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“There’s zero remorse. The only time he cried was for himself. He cried for himself. He didn’t cry for what he did to my mother,” said Brent. “She was such a good mother, always cared about the well-being of her children.”
Dennis Rigsby is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 20.