Rice death sentenced reduced to life without parole by judge’s ruling
By The Salem News
A Dent County man twice sentenced to death for the same murder charge again saw his penalty reduced to life without parole. A press release from the Dent County Prosecutor’s Office reports Marvin Rice, 54, received the sentence following May 23 hearing.
The release states:
“On Dec. 11, 2011, Marvin Rice was arrested and charged with the murder of Annette Durham and Stephen Strotkamp. The charge was filed by then Dent County Prosecutor Sidney T. Pearson, who requested the assistance of the Missouri Attorney General and filed a notice of intent to pursue the death penalty.
“After a week of jury selection and another week in trial in August of 2017, the jury found the defendant guilty of Murder in the 1st degree of Annette Durham and Murder in the 2nd degree of Stephen Strotkamp. The jury was unable to agree as to one of the 2 possibilities of punishment. The two options available were life without parole or the death sentence. A sentencing hearing was scheduled later that year and Judge Kelly Parker sentenced the defendant to death in Count 1 and life without parole in Count 2.
“The Missouri Supreme Court later overturned the sentence of death in Count 1, but affirmed the conviction. The case was then remanded back to the trial court for a new trial for the sentencing phase only on Count 1, due to a statement made by the Assistant Attorney General during oral argument. In March through April of 2022, a week of jury selection was conducted and once selected, another week of trial was conducted for the sentencing of Marvin Rice. St. Charles County Judge Daniel Pelikan presided over the preceding as Judge Parker had retired. At the conclusion of the preceding, the jury unanimously agreed that a sentence of death was warranted and presented the verdict to the judge.
“On May 23, 2022 a sentencing hearing was conducted to determine if the Judge was going to accept the verdict or render a sentence of life without parole. Missouri Supreme Court Rule 29.05 provides that in every criminal case, “the court shall have power to reduce the punishment within the statutory limits prescribed for the offense if it finds that the punishment is excessive.” A judge can reduce a sentence, but can never increase the verdict of the jury. At the conclusion of the hearing Judge Pelikan ordered a sentence of life without parole.
“In a statement provided by Prosecutor Curley he indicated, ‘In Missouri, prosecutors and juries do not determine the sentence to be imposed on a convicted defendant. A Judge ultimately determines the sentence to be imposed. This is true for every criminal case. The prosecutor’s job is to present the facts of the case and let the Judge decide.’”
According to court documents released after the shootings, Rice confronted Durham and her boyfriend, Strotkamp, at a residence on Dent County Road 3300 Dec. 11, 2011. An argument occurred during which Rice shot the victims multiple times in their chests.
Durham's six-year-old daughter was hiding in the bedroom with her brother and heard two sets of gunshots.
Rice then began fleeing north on Highway 72 before merging onto Highway 63. Police officials began pursuit near Westphalia after identifying his white Subaru station wagon and using Rice’s cell phone signal to determine his location. During the chase speeds exceeded 80 miles-per-hour. Rice got as far as Jefferson City. He exited the highway after his tires were ruptured by a spike strip and fled into the downtown Capital Plaza Hotel. A holiday party happened to be occurring in the hotel at the time.
A shootout broke out between Rice, a pursuing Jefferson City police officer and an off-duty Cole County sheriff’s deputy who was serving as security for the holiday party. Rice fired several shots toward the officers with a .40 Glock. He was apprehended after being struck by bullets in the abdomen and forearm.
Prior to the 2011 shooting, Rice was serving as a correctional officer at the South Central Correctional Center in Licking. From 2004 to 2009 Rice served as a deputy with the Dent County Sheriff’s Office.
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/n...aec2aa9bf.html
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