AUSTIN (KXAN) — The man responsible for killing Austin defense legal professional James Short received a forty-year prison sentence Tuesday in Travis County. Justin Twyne, 26, pleaded no longer guilty to the homicide charge about Short’s 2017 death at his Rockwood Circle home in southwest Travis County. The prosecution requested the jury on Tuesday, in the course of the remaining arguments for sentencing, to bear in mind the punishment of life imprisonment for Twyne. The protection, however, requested the jury to recall “unexpected ardour,” which means Twyne may be punished anywhere between two to 20 years alternatively because, by law, if a jury unearths unexpected passion existed within the commission of the homicide, it would be bumped down to a 2d diploma range of punishment. Twyne might be eligible for parole in two decades. After the sentencing decision was here down, family members took the stand for victim impact statements. “I will hate you for all time for what you have done to my circle of relatives. You chose to murder my uncle. You have taken the love I had for 59 years for a brilliant guy. I will never forgive you,” Linda Proctor Owens instructed Twyne. Another of Short’s nieces, Kay Brown, advised KXAN, “I wouldn’t feel secure with [Twyne] out on the streets. I suppose he preys on older men.” “I’m no longer positive I hate him. However, I can’t ever forgive that he has no remorse,” Brown endured.
Throughout the week-long trial, it was revealed Short, who became 74 years old at the time of his loss of life and 50 years older than his attacker, was stabbed 26 to 28 times and burned over distinct parts of his body. Authorities got here to suspect Twyne after investigators allegedly found a bloody knife with Twyne’s fingerprint on it on the scene in conjunction with files that had his call on it. Prosecutors stated evidence on the crime scene showed he had been tortured. “This is an unsightly case due to the fact what you’ve got here is a man who decided, when he changed into there at Jim’s residence, to kill him and take his money,” Jeremy Sylestine, a Travis Co. Assistant district legal professional, told the jury for the duration of remaining arguments. Prosecutors argued Twyne desired to escape with Short’s cash and an $18,000 credit line. “Our concept is that Justin just got infuriated at his attacker [being Short, allegedly] — that once the attacker came closer to him, he felt like he had to shield his existence,” said Russ Hunt, Twyne’s defense lawyer.
Hunt says the defense will file an enchantment for his or her patron in this case. The prosecution denied that any sexual assault had taken place earlier than Short’s become killed. Short was observed to be useless inner a restroom in his home on April 7, 2017, via the circle of relatives contributors who had come to his home after they could not reach him on the phone, which they said was uncommon. His circle of relatives noticed him alive the day before. It was argued that Twyne killed Short in the night hours of April 6, after the two were believed to be seen together in surveillance video from a Walmart. The video showed a man matching Twyne’s description walking with Short, flora, and plants in the shopping cart. The two men left the store collectively inside the legal professional’s Chevrolet Suburban.
A receipt in Short’s pocket confirmed a purchase was made at a Walmart at 6:sixteen p.m. Twyne was found in a New Orleans hotel the day after Short was found dead by way of the U.S. Marshal Task Force. He was arrested on an unrelated break-out warrant that confirmed he was charged with break-out through the Georgia Department of Corrections after he did not return to a work-release program. He turned into that application for a price of monetary transaction card fraud. After a seek warrant was issued for Twyne’s hotel room, the government located credit cards belonging to Short’s interior. Prosecutors discovered Twyne had already become a convicted felon for fraud expenses before the murder conviction.