News: Sentencing for Man Convicted of Killing a Long Island Speaker
(Long Island, N.Y.) The man convicted of murdering a Long Island motivational speaker will be sentenced on April 4th. At his trial, the jury took just five hours to come up with a guilty verdict. The murder charges came after the defense maintained that the defendant was only guilty of assisted suicide.
This case involved a fifty-two year old man named Jeffery Locker who lived with his wife and kids in Valley Stream. Locker was in the field of self-help publications, but ran into a heap of financial trouble and extreme debt following his association in a Ponzi scheme. To put an end to his woes, he allegedly searched the streets of East Harlem for a contract killer.
At the trial, the defense tried to portray Locker as a manipulator who persuaded his assailant to commit the crime by appealing to his sympathies. The defendant testified that he took pity on Locker for his troubles, and was compelled to assist in the staged suicide so that Locker’s family could collect on a multi-million dollar life insurance settlement. A second man supported the argument after stating he was also approached by Locker for the offer.
Prosecutors emphasized the line between assisted suicide and killing for the motive of collecting money. They maintained that the defendant’s actions couldn’t qualify for assisted suicide because the knife wounds suggested that Locker was stabbed at least seven times in his vehicle by a man in the passenger’s seat. The defense lawyer sang a different tune by referring to a pathologist’s testimony, which claimed it was possible for the defendant to hold the knife in place as Locker plunged into it.
The jury was reminded that the defendant was arrested while attempting to use Locker’s ATM card in an area close to the stabbing. As a result, the prosecutor labeled him as a “Grim reaper” who assisted in the death of Locker for the sole purpose of monetary game. The assistant district attorney portrayed the defendant as a hustler that was formerly guilty of drug charges and crimes.
Following the trial, the defense intended to appeal the case on the grounds that the judge had improperly instructed the jury. The defense lawyer stated that the judge allowed for an “affirmative defense” by telling members of the jury that assisted suicide can’t be used to defend a murder charge in cases where the defendant actively caused the death. The defense lawyer claimed to be confident that the verdict would be overturned.
Meanwhile, the prosecution illustrated the difference between giving a terminally ill patient a pill to cause death and stabbing a man several times in the chest. Prosecutors labeled Locker’s killer as “no angel of mercy.” The thirty-eight year old defendant could face up to life in prison during the sentencing.
The defendant’s wife was at the trial, but along with jury members, declined to comment on the outcome of the case. Locker’s wife and family did not receive an initial life insurance settlement due to a misrepresentation of his earnings on the application form. Prior to his death, he informed his wife that he was pulled over to fix a flat tire, while the defense claims this was all part of his elaborate plot.
This case involves two people who seemed to have put money above the value of human life. Because of Locker’s commitment to public speaking and his career-long function as a motivator, the defendant claims to have been lured by his motivational skills. Whether he’s a mimic Kevorkian or a murder-by-contract killer, he awaits uncertainty in what will be the ultimate factor in the outcome of his sentencing.
