Local Court Reaffirms Ousley Sentence
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
The local court reaffirmed the sentence of a man convicted in 1994 of murdering his wife.
Michael Millard Ousley, 43, formerly of North Webster, was resentenced recently in Kosciusko Superior Court I because aggravating and mitigating circumstances were not defined when he was originally sentenced.
Senior Judge Robert Burner, who was the sitting judge in the case in 1994, was assigned to the bench for the resentencing.
Ousley will continue to serve a 50-year prison term for the July 12, 1993, murder of his wife, 32-year-old Bonnie Ousley.
Burner noted in the order for resentencing that aggravating circumstances were "the particular circumstances of events which showed that the defendant and the victim did engage in a domestic dispute which escalated, at which time the defendant had the victim on the bed." Bonnie Ousley's throat was slashed before she was shot in the back with a shotgun. The shotgun blast pierced her heart, according to information from the trial.
Under mitigating circumstances, Burner wrote: "... the Court is satisfied that this particular offense occurred under circumstances not likely to recur. Defendant has made some progress it would appear in rehabilitation."
It also is noted that the mitigating circumstances do not offset the aggravating circumstances.
Since the time that Ousley first appeared in court, state statutes have changed, with the presumptive term for murder set at 55 years and up to 10 years allowed added for aggravating circumstances and up to 10 years allowed subtracted for mitigating circumstances.
Burner opted to impose resentencing under the prior statute, with Ousley sentenced to the previous presumptive term of 40 years, plus 10 years for aggravating circumstances. This is the same number of years for which Ousley was sentenced in 1994.
After killing his wife, Michael Ousley turned the gun on himself in a failed suicide attempt. He recovered from the wounds, but remains disfigured. With the gun fired while placed beneath his chin, the blast severly damaged Ousley's face. [[In-content Ad]]
The local court reaffirmed the sentence of a man convicted in 1994 of murdering his wife.
Michael Millard Ousley, 43, formerly of North Webster, was resentenced recently in Kosciusko Superior Court I because aggravating and mitigating circumstances were not defined when he was originally sentenced.
Senior Judge Robert Burner, who was the sitting judge in the case in 1994, was assigned to the bench for the resentencing.
Ousley will continue to serve a 50-year prison term for the July 12, 1993, murder of his wife, 32-year-old Bonnie Ousley.
Burner noted in the order for resentencing that aggravating circumstances were "the particular circumstances of events which showed that the defendant and the victim did engage in a domestic dispute which escalated, at which time the defendant had the victim on the bed." Bonnie Ousley's throat was slashed before she was shot in the back with a shotgun. The shotgun blast pierced her heart, according to information from the trial.
Under mitigating circumstances, Burner wrote: "... the Court is satisfied that this particular offense occurred under circumstances not likely to recur. Defendant has made some progress it would appear in rehabilitation."
It also is noted that the mitigating circumstances do not offset the aggravating circumstances.
Since the time that Ousley first appeared in court, state statutes have changed, with the presumptive term for murder set at 55 years and up to 10 years allowed added for aggravating circumstances and up to 10 years allowed subtracted for mitigating circumstances.
Burner opted to impose resentencing under the prior statute, with Ousley sentenced to the previous presumptive term of 40 years, plus 10 years for aggravating circumstances. This is the same number of years for which Ousley was sentenced in 1994.
After killing his wife, Michael Ousley turned the gun on himself in a failed suicide attempt. He recovered from the wounds, but remains disfigured. With the gun fired while placed beneath his chin, the blast severly damaged Ousley's face. [[In-content Ad]]