The Nov. 12 jury trial on first-degree, premeditated murder charges against Richard Elmer Jackson, 49, was cancelled after Jackson pled guilty to second-degree murder as part of a plea deal.
On Nov. 3, the first-degree murder charge was dismissed as part of the agreement accepted by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Timothy M. Kenny.
Jackson was referred to the probation department for a pre-sentence report and Judge Kenny will sentence him on Dec. 3.
The trial had originally been set for Aug. 7, but Jackson’s case was reassigned to another judge and his court-appointed attorney was replaced by retained attorney William Otis Culpepper.
Jackson has been held in the Wayne County Jail since he was charged with the Dec. 17 stabbing death of his wife Travisteen in their VBT home.
First-degree murder would bring a sentence of mandatory life without parole. Second-degree murder brings a sentence of life or any term of years.
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