Stineback found guilty of second-degree murder
Published 5:38 pm Friday, June 10, 2016
A 12-person jury returned a verdict of guilty Friday on all three counts against the Dowagiac man who shot and killed his wife during a domestic dispute in their home last Spring.
The jury found Terry Stineback, 44, guilty of second-degree murder following nearly three hours of deliberation in Cass County Court. The conviction carries a sentence of life or any term of years in prison.
The jury also returned guilty verdicts on the other two counts against the Dowagiac man, a count of assault with intent to commit murder, which also carries a sentence of life or any term of years in prison, and felony firearms, which carries a mandatorily consecutive two-year prison sentence.
The decision followed the three days worth of testimony by the prosecution, led by Assisstant Prosecutor Tiffiny Vohwinkle, and defense, led by attorney Edwin Johnson. Both sides wrapped up their cases and delivered closing remarks Thursday.
Stineback was accused of shooting his wife, Laura, three times in the back during an argumentin the master bedroom of their home on Flanders Street in Wayne Township the night of May 12, 2015. The shooting took place following an altercation minutes earlier in the kitchen of the home, where the couple’s 9-year-old daughter said her father was standing over her mother, strangling her.
Stineback is set to go before Judge Michael Dodge for sentencing on July 29.