JACKSONVILLE, FL. (AP) - A Jacksonville man has been sentenced to life in prison for raping and killing a woman during a robbery.
A Duval County judge sentenced 33-year-old Lance Eugene Kirkpatrick on Friday after a jury recommended against the death penalty. Jurors had previously convicted Kirkpatrick of murder, rape and robbery.
Prosecutors say Kirkpatrick broke into the house of Derrick and Kim Dorsey in 2012 because he wanted to pay off a drug debt. He had lived with the Dorseys previously and knew where they hid a key. The Florida Times-Union reports that Kirkpatrick beat Kim Dorsey with a pool cue, raped her, tied her up with zip ties and then slit her throat with a kitchen knife.
Kirkpatrick testified that the killing was accidental. He claimed he had been having an affair with Kim Dorsey, but she was angry that he had helped her husband meet women.
