Soldier Gets Death Sentence in Military Court after Civil Acquittal
A military jury has sentenced a soldier to die for a triple murder more than 20 years after a civilian court acquitted him of the same charges.
Military jurors convicted Master Sgt. Timothy Hennis last week after deliberating less than three hours. The death sentence was imposed Thursday after another 13 hours of deliberations, the Associated Press reports. The sentence will be automatically appealed.
Prosecutors wanted to retry Hennis after new DNA tests linked him to sperm found on a slain woman, Kathryn Eastburn. She was killed along with her two daughters, ages 5 and 3, in 1985.
Double jeopardy had barred a retrial in state court, but not in military court. The military recalled Hennis to active service so he could stand trial by the military court at Fort Bragg, N.C.
