Published: July 26, 2008 12:09 am         

Inmate found guilty of capital murder

Sentence increased automatically to life without parole

PALESTINE — A 34-year-old Texas Department of Criminal Justice inmate already in prison for murder was automatically sentenced to “life without parole” after an Anderson County jury found him guilty of capital murder Friday.

A nine-woman, three-man jury deliberated for less than 15 minutes Friday afternoon at the Anderson County Courthouse before finding Sam Kilgore, 34, guilty of capital murder in connection with the death of his cellmate, 25-year-old Jerry Sinclair, who was found deceased in their cell at the TDJC’s Michael Unit in Tennessee Colony during the early morning hours of Aug. 28, 2006.

Since the state did not seek the death penalty, Kilgore was automatically sentenced to life without parole.

Under state law, the charge against Kilgore was enhanced to capital murder based on Kilgore being incarcerated on a murder conviction at the time of the subsequent murder.

Testimony during the trial indicated that Kilgore had complained about Sinclair’s odor just days before the man’s death.

Sinclair had a “child-like” mentality, watched cartoons and wore a diaper due to incontinence, according to testimony in the trial which began Tuesday.

“Of course, we’re pleased with the verdict,” said Allyson Mitchell, prosecutor with the state’s Special Prosecution Unit. “Anytime you have a murder such as this, it’s difficult. But the jury did the right thing because Mr. Kilgore took another person’s life.”

Before both sides rested their cases late Friday morning, a medical examiner with the Galveston County medical examiner’s office testified it was his opinion that Sinclair died as a result of strangulation.

On Friday, Dr. Stephen Pustilnik of the Galveston County medical examiner’s office was on the stand for approximately 85 minutes, testifying he believed Sinclair died due to strangulation rather than hanging.

Throughout the trial, Kilgore’s attorneys with the state’s counsel for offenders — Barbara Law and Nicholas Hughes — attempted to portray Sinclair’s cause of death as suicide by hanging.

Pustilnik testified that he did not perform the autopsy on Sinclair’s body, but reviewed records, photographs and other materials in arriving at his opinions.

Dr. Yvonne Milewski, who performed the autopsy, is now employed as chief medical examiner in Suffolk County, N.Y., Pustilnik further explained.

A handful of photographs taken during Sinclair’s autopsy were displayed to the jury during Pustilnik’s testimony, showing bright red marks around the man’s neck, in addition to bruising to the back of the right hand, a bruise on the back left of the head and minor scratches on the chest.

The medical examiner described the wound to the back of Sinclair’s hand as a “defensive” or “guarded” injury.

Pustilnik testified that “at least two...separate events” led to Sinclair’s death. The pathologist defined an event in this instance as the application of a ligature to the neck with sufficient force to cause a mark.

There were “multiple applications” of a “thinner ligature” around Sinclair’s neck, in addition to the application of a “wider ligature,” according to Pustilnik.

The state argued during the trial that a pair of shoestrings tied together and a piece of torn cloth were used by Kilgore to strangle Sinclair.

Sinclair’s body displayed “multiple applications low on the neck” — injuries consistent with strangulation and not hanging, Pustilnik testified.

“My opinion is the cause (of Sinclair’s death) is strangulation and the manner is a homicide,” Pustilnik told the jury.

Under cross examination, Hughes asked Pustilnik a series of questions concerning the characteristics of a partial suspension hanging.

Pustilnik testified that a such a hanging occurred when the victim’s feet, knees or buttocks were touching the ground.

Mitchell later asked Pustilnik if Sinclair’s injuries were “consistent with a partial suspension hanging?”

“No, not at all,” Pustilnik responded.

Following’s Pustilnik’s testimony, the state rested its case shortly after 11 a.m. Friday. The defendant then rested without calling any witnesses.

369th State District Judge Bascom W. Bentley III presided over this week’s trial.

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Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com

     

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