Oregon 'cold-blooded' farmer Susan Monica convicted of killing men and feeding bodies to pigs
It took jurors only an hour on Tuesday 21 April to convict an Oregon farmer charged with killing two men and feeding their bodies to her pigs.
Susan Monica, 66, was found guilty of murdering the two handymen; Stephen Delicino, 59, in 2012 and Robert Haney, 56, in 2013, and feeding their corpses to her animals.
Monica was sentenced to 50 years in prison by Circuit Judge Tim Barnack.
"You shot two people and fed them to your pigs. I don't know how else I can put it. You valued pigs more than you value people. It may sound harsh, but you are a cold-blooded killer," said Judge Barnack, reported ABC News.
Monica reportedly gave contradicting stories on how she shot the two victims that failed to match the forensic evidence.
She alleged shooting Delicino in self-defence and her pigs started eating his corpse before she could attempt to bury him.
According to her statement, she discovered Haney while he was being attacked by her pigs and she shot him to relieve him of his suffering.
State Police forensic anthropologist, Veronica Vance, however testified that there was no evidence to validate the self-defence claim against Delicino and the fact that Haney's legs were found chopped off with an axe proved both of Monica's statements were false.
Meanwhile, defence lawyers said the case will be appealed.
"Just because Susan Monica is different and strange and weird doesn't make her a murderer," defence lawyer, Christine Herbert, told the jury.
Shocking the courtroom, Monica raised her hand as the judge addressed the jury before deliberations and requested being given one last chance to show how she shot Delicino.
She then put her hands up in the air and said: "I held the gun like this."
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