KILLER GETS 72 YEARS TO LIFE
by Heather Muller , 8/21/2007
Thomas Arthur Applegate was sentenced Tuesday to three life sentences plus seven years in the 2003 Bridgeville murder of Joey Church and the attempted murder of Church’s neighbor Ross Condemi.
The stiff sentence was the last stop on an emotional roller coaster ride for the slain man’s family, who listened in disbelief early in the day’s proceedings as Applegate’s lawyer discussed his motion, filed Tuesday, for a new trial.
Humboldt County Public Defender Kevin Robinson argued that an expert witness during the sanity phase of the trial demonstrated “bias or prejudice” in a Times-Standard interview published Monday, and that the jury verdict was “contrary to evidence and the law.”
District Attorney Paul Gallegos opposed the motion.
“I believe the evidence was and is overwhelming,” Gallegos said, arguing that there was abundant support for the conclusions of the witness, Dr. Robert Soper, a psychiatrist who testified for the prosecution.
Judge John T. Feeney agreed with the prosecution. He denied the motion and — to the family’s audible relief — cleared the way for sentencing to proceed.
“I do find that the evidence presented at trial did have sufficient probative value to sustain the verdict,” Feeney said, adding that he did not find bias in Soper’s post-trial statements and did not believe a different verdict would result from a new trial.
Feeney then listened as family members made statements to the court about the loss of Church, a father of three children and part of a close-knit, extended Bridgeville family.
“His 5-year-old daughter will never remember him,” one of Church’s sisters said. “My father will never have another son, and I will never have another brother.”
“We all have a huge hole in our life. There’s not one of us, one of us, who will ever be whole again.”
Applegate stood next to his attorney and stared straight ahead during the impact statements, glancing only occasionally at the speakers. He declined to comment before punishment was handed down.
Feeney sentenced Applegate to 15 years to life for the second-degree murder of Church, with an additional 25-to-life sentence for the enhancement of discharging a firearm causing death.
He was further sentenced to a determinate term of seven years for the second-degree attempted murder of Condemi, with another 25-to-life for the enhancement of using a firearm during the crime.
All terms are to run consecutively, Feeney said, which means Applegate would not be eligible for parole until at least 2079.
“I’m just glad he got what he got,” the victim’s father, Richard Church, said after the proceedings.
The prosecutor’s feelings about the verdict, however, were harder to read. On his way out of the courtroom, Gallegos looked at the convicted killer and said, “Good luck, Mr. Applegate.”
“Prison’s not a pleasant place,” the district attorney explained later. “This was a terrible tragedy for the Church family, and a terrible tragedy for the Applegate family.”
The prolonged court proceedings stemmed from the May 4, 2003, shooting in Church’s Bridgeville home.
Church was watching an episode of “The Simpsons” on television with his family and Condemi when Applegate, a resident of Paso Robles, knocked on the door, apparently at random, and asked if the house was for sale.
He spoke briefly with the men before pulling out a gun and killing one and injuring the other. It is believed neither man had ever seen Applegate before.
Proceedings were continued until Tuesday to review clarified calculations of Applegate’s time served in this case and a previous conviction in San Luis Obispo County.
An appeal of the case is automatic due to the strict sentence handed down.
Copyright (C) 2005, The Eureka Reporter. All rights reserved.
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