COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A woman convicted of killing her husband at his snake breeding business in central Missouri was sentenced Monday to 16 years in prison.
Boone County Judge Kevin Crane sentenced Lynlee Renick to 13 years for second-degree murder and three years for armed criminal action in the June 2017 death of her husband, Ben Renick, who bred rare and exotic snakes at his business in New Florence.
During the trial in December, prosecutors had sought a life sentence but the jury recommended the two lesser sentences. Crane could not exceed the jury's recommendation but ruled the two sentences would run consecutively, KOMU-TV reported.
Lynlee Renick's attorney on Monday asked for a sentence of 10 years, arguing that the murder was not premeditated.
One of Renick's former boyfriend's, Michael Humphrey, was convicted of first-degree murder in Benjamin Renick’s death and was sentenced earlier this month to life in prison.