FAYETTEVILLE (AP) – An Arkansas man convicted in the torture, sexual assault and killing of a 24-year-old woman has been spared the death penalty and sentenced instead to life in prison.
Mark Edward Chumley is one of five people accused in the 2015 killing of Victoria Annabeth Davis. Prosecutors say the group, which includes Davis’ husband, sexually assaulted the woman and connected her body to a battery charger before beating her to death with baseball bats.
Witnesses testified that Chumley thought Davis was trying to implicate him on criminal charges.
The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that a jury convicted Chumley last week of capital murder and sentenced him Monday to life in prison.
Chumley’s attorneys had pleaded with jurors to spare his life, saying Chumley’s choices were affected by long-term methamphetamine abuse.
