75 YEARS WITHOUT PAROLE
Expat Scot who shot his parents dead at their California home is sentenced to die in jail
‘Callous and violent actions’ ‘This guy should not be let out’
A SCOT who murdered his mother and stepfather in their American home faces dying in prison after he was jailed for 75 years yesterday.
Derek Connell, 33, who was dressed in a brown prison jumpsuit, stared blankly ahead as he was told there was no possibility of parole.
Judge John Brownlee passed sentence on Connell in Kern County Superior Court for the murders of his Scottish mother and American stepfather, Kim and Chris Higginbotham, in April 2016.
Connell shot the couple at the quiet cul-de-sac bungalow in Bakersfield, California, where they all lived together. He then showed their bodies to his aunt in Scotland during a gruesome FaceTime call and made a botched attempt to clean up the scene with bleach.
Last month, a jury convicted him of first degree murder for the killing of Mr Higginbotham and second degree murder for his mother’s death.
Connell admitted shooting dead Mr Higginbotham but claimed he did so after his stepfather shot his mother. He also alleged that he was sexually abused by his stepfather from the ages of ten to 14.
Judge Brownlee said Connell had shown through his ‘callous and violent actions he is a great danger to the community’.
The Scot ‘took advantage’ of a position of trust, he added, by killing his parents after being allowed to move back in with them following a stint in jail.
Connell had ‘numerous’ prior convictions, which had increased in seriousness before the double murder.
Mr Higginbotham’s father, Addison, and sister Robin were in the public gallery for the sentencing hearing.
Connell’s lawyer Derek Cadman said the judge should not treat the murders as separate acts of violence and asked him to give concurrent sentences rather than consecutive.
Prosecutor Marcus Cuper told the judge the two murders should be treated as separate crimes because they were separate acts of violence.
The judge agreed with the prosecution and said the sentences would be served consecutively.
Addison Higginbotham said afterwards: ‘We are happy with the court proceedings.
‘I’m convinced it’s the right result. The guy should not be let out with the normal folks. He should never get out.’
Detective Ken Sporer, who investigated the murders and gave evidence at the trial, said: ‘I’m just happy with the result.’
Connell’s two-week trial earlier this year heard how he texted his aunt – Mrs Higginbotham’s sister Sonia Connell – in Scotland after carrying out the murders, telling her that his parents were dead.
He then picked up a FaceTime call from her to his mother’s iPad and showed her the pair lying dead in pools of blood.
He had also poured bleach on them in an attempt to clean up the scene.
Miss Connell called US police and her nephew was arrested in the early hours of April 30, 2016, as he drove from the family home, smelling of alcohol and with blood and bleach stains on his clothes. He also had empty bleach bottles in the car.
The jury heard Connell told ‘compulsive’ lies to detectives, including an outlandish claim that a loan shark called Nacho might have done it because his stepfather had gambling debts.
In a second interview he said he had ‘probably’ killed his parents but couldn’t remember what had happened.
When on the stand last month, Connell, originally from Shawlands, Glasgow, confessed it was he who actually had the gambling problem.
Mr and Mrs Higginbotham, both 48, met while the American was stationed in Scotland with the US Navy in 1990. They moved to the US when Connell was about four years old.
Mr Higginbotham was an operator at a power plant and his wife was a primary school teacher. The couple had planned to retire together at 59.
Connell was constantly in trouble, frequently drunk and had spent nine months in jail before they agreed to let him move back in with them.
Mr Cuper said: ‘Unfortunately that kind decision ended up costing them their lives.’
Miss Connell, who flew out from her home in Aberdeenshire to testify for the prosecution, told the jury her sister loved her son ‘unconditionally’.
Mr Higginbotham was shot three times, in the neck, chest and shoulder. Mrs Higginbotham was found dead with a gunshot wound to her chest.
Prosecutors had previously dropped a request for the death penalty.