Guilty on all counts. That's the verdict from a Butler County jury in the 2015 death of Hamilton Fire Fighter Patrick Wolterman.The jury finds Lester Parker and his nephew, Billy Tucker, guilty of arson and murder for setting a Dec. 28, 2015 fire. Wolterman died after falling through the floor while responding to the blaze.
Judge Greg Stephens handed down a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the eligibility of parole in 15 years.
Prosecutors say Parker enlisted Tucker's help to burn his home in order to collect the insurance money. Both men denied those allegations when testifying in their own defenses.
Bre Wolterman, Patrick's widow, spoke briefly after the verdict asking the judge for the maximum sentence. She says the two men robbed her of her future.
"They not only took my husband from me, they took my life away," she says. "We didn't even get to have children yet. They took that away from me."
The Woltermans were married for just about seven months before the incident.
Bre Wolterman Patrick Wolterman鈥檚 widow asks for the maximum sentence for Parker and Tucker.
— Jay Warren (@JayWarrenWCPO)
