Man sentenced to 48 years in murder
A former Florida National Guardsman convicted in the killing of his girlfriend was sentenced Tuesday to 48 years in prison.
John Eugene Chapman’s lawyers wanted a 17-year term for the second-degree murder conviction by a Palm Beach County jury last month. They argued he was provoked in the fatal attack on Vanessa Williams, 28, of Margate.
But prosecutors sought a life sentence for the stabbing death in a pickup truck parked outside a West Boca apartment complex.
Williams’ parents requested the same punishment in a case where prosecutors previously wanted a first-degree murder conviction and the death penalty for Chapman, 28.
While Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath gave neither side what they wished, he said the woman’s murder at the hands of the man who fathered one of her three children was “just a horrible tragedy.”
Assistant Public Defender Scott Pribble asked the judge to elaborate on the reasons for the lengthy sentence, as Chapman’s lawyers say they will soon pursue an appeal.
Colbath at first refused, explaining he’s under no obligation to clarify how he decided upon 48 years. But then he said he disagreed with the entire defense claim that the killing was justifiable.
“I don’t think there was an ounce of self-defense,” the judge said. “I think the jury got it right.”
The victim’s mother and father, Ninett Martinez and Rupert Williams, of Miami, later told reporters they had hoped Chapman would never have a chance at freedom.
“This guy should stay in jail for life without even the thought of parole,” Williams said during Chapman’s four-hour sentencing hearing, where the judge also heard from Chapman’s friends and former Guard commander.
Williams said Chapman didn’t have to kill his daughter, even if she brought out a knife to try to defend herself during an argument.
“She can’t speak, so no one can tell her story,” Williams told the judge, adding he didn’t appreciate the defense lawyers’ “portrayal of my daughter as a druggie” during the trial.
The couple had spent a few days and nights drinking and using the drug flakka before the April 18, 2015, death, jurors were told.
Chapman testified his military training “kicked in,” and he went into a “robotic” mode when he saw Vanessa Williams grab a knife and try to stab him in the truck.
Chapman testified he wrestled control of the knife and stabbed her more than 20 times in the neck and upper body.
“I’m defending myself. I don’t think. I don’t feel,” Chapman said.
After Williams was dead, Chapman said he drove west of Delray Beach to dump the body and the knife in a ditch.
On Tuesday, Chapman blamed his actions in part on the effects of serving a tour of duty as a soldier in Iraq in 2009.
“I came back with invisible wounds,” he said, adding that his “weakness” got the better of him.
But Assistant State Attorney Reid Scott said the military background was “really irrelevant to why we’re here.”
“John Chapman … threw [Williams] on the side of the road like discarded trash,” he said.