Convicted killer Russell Tillis gets 2 life sentences plus 30 extra years
Tillis, 60, guilty of kidnapping & killing 30-year-old Joni Gunter
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Tillis sentenced
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A judge on Tuesday sentenced convicted killer Russell Tillis to two life sentences plus 30 extra years.
Tillis, 60, was found guilty in April of first-degree murder, kidnapping and dismemberment in the death of 30-year-old Joni Gunter. For the counts of murder and kidnapping, Tillis received back-to-back life sentences. For the count of abuse of a dead body, he got 30 extra years.
Tillis has been sentenced to 2 life sentences for murder & kidnapping + 30 extra years for dismemberment of dead human body @wjxt4 Scott Johnson (@WJXTScottJ) June 1, 2021
The man convicted of first-degree murder in the death, kidnapping and dismemberment of a 30-year-old woman in 2016 will learn his sentence Tuesday afternoon.
The Mercy Seat
All 12 jurors agreed Russell Tillis deserved death, but 3 voted for life. Why a new approach to death penalty trials may have made the difference. Author: Anne Schindler Updated: 10:10 PM EDT April 16, 2021
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. She said it so often, some eye-rolling could be seen in the courtroom.
“Death is never required,” Allison Miller told jurors. “Not in this case, not in the worst case you can imagine.”
She repeated it again and again, to most if not quite all of the 60 jurors questioned over two days in the capital murder trial of Russell Tillis. She said it despite the fact that this likely
Whether Russell Tillis lives or dies is a choice jurors will begin deliberating Thursday as testimony in his death penalty case is expected to wrap up midday.
Last week, during the trial’s “guilt phase,” 12 jurors convicted Tillis of first-degree murder, kidnapping and abuse of a dead human body.
Now, in the penalty phase, they must decide whether prosecutors have proven aggravating factors that warrant death, or whether Tillis’ defense attorneys have provided enough mitigating evidence to outweigh those aggravators.
The defense spent much of the day Wednesday presenting Tillis as “a damaged, broken” man, but one who could nevertheless lead a productive life in prison using his skills as a welder. They introduced psychologists and toxicologists who testified that Tillis was warped by childhood trauma and years of drug addiction.