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Jury Recommends Death Penalty For Elderly Couple’s Killer

Jesse DriskillLEBANON, Mo. (AP) — A jury has recommended the death penalty for a man convicted of killing an elderly couple who interrupted a burglary at their south-central Missouri home in July 2010.

The jury that was brought to Laclede County from Franklin County deliberated about four hours Friday afternoon before reaching its recommendation for 33-year-old Jesse Driskill of Lebanon, Missouri.

The same panel convicted Driskill on Wednesday of first-degree murder in the deaths of 82-year-old Johnnie Wilson and 76-year-old Coleen Wilson at their secluded home near Lebanon. Both were shot, and Coleen Wilson was raped before their killer tried to burn their bodies.

Laclede County Circuit Judge Kenneth Hayden will consider the jury’s recommendation when he sentences Driskill on November 5th.

Besides murder, Driskill was also convicted of rape, sodomy, burglary and armed criminal action.

Driskill has multiple prior convictions, and reportedly wanted to return to prison. He had just been released from custody June 9 after serving a sentence for assault.

In 2007 he allegedly stabbed Lisa Rogers with a pair of box cutters. In 2008 he’s also accused of beating Rogers and her cousin with a wooden chair. Rogers is the mother of his child, and that’s her name tattooed on his neck.

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