cybervampira
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2014
- Messages
- 15,973
- Reaction score
- 69,036
Man gets death penalty in torture slaying of Alabama woman | Daily Mail Online
Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge Brad Almond imposed the death penalty on 34-year-old Michael Belcher during a hearing Wednesday.
Belcher was convicted of capital murder last month after two hours of deliberations in the slaying of 29-year-old Samantha Payne, who authorities say was tortured to death and had her throat slit.
Defendant Chylii Bruce received a 20-year sentence, with only five years to be served in prison, in exchange for her testimony against the others.
Steven George was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Belcher's defense team cried foul over what they characterized as a 'sentencing disparity' between the co-defendants, arguing that their client was no more culpable than the others, yet he was the only one being sentenced to die, reported Tuscaloosa News.
Police in Alabama said in 2015 that Payne left her parents' home in Maplesville on October 30 - her birthday - and was never seen alive again.
Court documents stated that she was brutally assaulted at the home of Belcher on Halloween weekend, WIAT reported at the time.
Investigators believe Payne was attacked after she became angry at her friends for stealing her car, which was later found burned.
Payne was then tied up and taken into the forest, where she had her hair and nails ripped out, and several teeth knocked out.
Belcher will become the 177th inmate on Alabama’s death row. The last person to have been executed in Alabama was Domineque Ray, 42, who was given a lethal injection in February 2019.
Convicted killer sentenced in Samantha Payne death
Tuscaloosa judge sentences convicted killer Michael Belcher to die by lethal injection
- Michael Belcher, 34, was sentenced to die by lethal injection for the 2015 torture death of 29-year-old Samantha Payne
- Payne's naked body was found tied to a tree in Alabama forest in November 2015 with her throat slit and her nails ripped out
- Belcher was one of five people convicted of Payne's murder, but he is the only one who got the death penalty
- Alyssa Watson, 25, and Marcus George, 38, were sentenced to 30 years in prison
- Chylii Bruce received a 20-year sentence, with only five years to be served in prison; Steven George was sentenced to life in prison with possibility of parole
Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge Brad Almond imposed the death penalty on 34-year-old Michael Belcher during a hearing Wednesday.
Belcher was convicted of capital murder last month after two hours of deliberations in the slaying of 29-year-old Samantha Payne, who authorities say was tortured to death and had her throat slit.
Defendant Chylii Bruce received a 20-year sentence, with only five years to be served in prison, in exchange for her testimony against the others.
Steven George was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Belcher's defense team cried foul over what they characterized as a 'sentencing disparity' between the co-defendants, arguing that their client was no more culpable than the others, yet he was the only one being sentenced to die, reported Tuscaloosa News.
Police in Alabama said in 2015 that Payne left her parents' home in Maplesville on October 30 - her birthday - and was never seen alive again.
Court documents stated that she was brutally assaulted at the home of Belcher on Halloween weekend, WIAT reported at the time.
Investigators believe Payne was attacked after she became angry at her friends for stealing her car, which was later found burned.
Payne was then tied up and taken into the forest, where she had her hair and nails ripped out, and several teeth knocked out.
Belcher will become the 177th inmate on Alabama’s death row. The last person to have been executed in Alabama was Domineque Ray, 42, who was given a lethal injection in February 2019.
Convicted killer sentenced in Samantha Payne death
Tuscaloosa judge sentences convicted killer Michael Belcher to die by lethal injection
Last edited:
