PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WVEC) - A man found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend's abusive husband was sentenced to 23 years in prison on Thursday.
Franklin Layne III was already a convicted murderer when a jury earlier this year found him guilty of killing 70-year-old John Nunamaker.
In the closing statements of Layne's trial, both the prosecution and defense criticized Nunamaker, who was shot dead June 8, 2017 outside his wife's home. Lawyers showed the jury pictures of injuries the wife suffered, purportedly at Nunamaker's hand, and noted that he was in violation of a protective order that night.
However, prosecutor Almetia Hardman said, those facts didn't mean Layne could take the law into his own hands.
Layne was sentenced in 1988 to life in prison for another homicide, but released by the state parole board in September 2012.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
