The Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- A Circuit Court jury deliberated less than 30 minutes Thursday before recommending that Peter Lee Boone spend the rest of his life in prison for the capital murder of Richmond police officer Douglas E. Wendel.
Boone, 19, was immediately sentenced to prison by Judge Margaret P. Spencer.
Boone was convicted Wednesday in the July 30 slaying after the jury deliberated for about four hours. The panel also could have sentenced him to die for the killing.
Wendel, 41, was shot after he responded to a call about a drug dealer with a gun in Richmond’s Southside. Testimony showed he was shot four times during a struggle.
The defense contended that the prosecution failed to prove the shooting was “willful, deliberate and premeditated,” an essential element of first-degree and capital murder.