An Alabama woman will spend the rest of her life behind bars after paying a hitman to kill her daughter’s father.
A Morgan County District judge handed 43-year-old Jaclyn Skuce a life term in prison without the possibility of parole for the shooting death of Anthony Larry Sheppard. Skuce was found guilty and convicted of three counts of capital murder: murder for hire, murder of a witness, and murder committed by shooting into an occupied dwelling.
"There are never any winners in a case like this. This jury was incredibly thorough and took their time to make sure they made the right decision, both for Mr. Sheppard and for the defendant. We are glad that they convicted her for the choice she made to take Mr. Sheppard away from his family," said Chief Assistant District Attorney Garrick Vickery, according to FOX News.
On July 24, 2020, the Hartselle Police Department responded to the victim’s residence after they received a welfare check call from Sheppard’s attorney when his client didn’t show up to court for a custody hearing. Upon arrival, authorities found Sheppard’s storm door shattered, and his main door was left ajar before they found the victim’s body with several gunshot wounds.
Later, investigators established that Logan Delp, who was being held at Madison County Jail for another crime, was the man who pulled the trigger. Delp identified four others who were involved in the homicide, including Skuce and another co-defendant, K.J. Smart. As a result, Skuce was arrested and confessed that she used social media to hire Delp and offered to have sex with him and pay $30,000 to murder Sheppard.
Prosecutors believe that at the time of the murder, the court was about to rule in favor of Sheppard for the custody of their child or unsupervised visits. During the custody battle, the victim had been on a two-hour supervised visit twice a month.
During the trial, Skuce’s defense team argued the defendant had been scared of her and their child’s life after Sheppard threatened her and sexually abused their daughter. They also argued Skuce had filed 32 police reports, which led to the victim being indicted by the grand jury, reported WAFF.
In a rebuttal, prosecutors told the jury that charges were never brought against Sheppard because the District Attorney’s Office had reservations due to the ongoing custody battle.
Delp and Smart have already been convicted in this case.
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