Vercher sentenced to life in prison
Published 1:41 pm Wednesday, September 10, 2014
OBERLIN — An Oberlin man was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after being found guilty of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice in the stabbing death of his estranged wife.
Joseph Eric Vercher, 46, was accused of killing Rachel Denise Lambert Vercher, 34 in June 2013. A jury deliberated for 35 minutes before finding him guilty after a three-day trial in 33rd Judicial District Court.
The jury rejected defense claims that Vercher should be convicted of manslaughter because the crime was committed in the “heat of passion” after a night of arguing and drinking.
Vercher, who showed no emotion after the verdict was read, asked Judge Joel Davis to impose sentence immediately. He was sentenced to an automatic life term on the murder charge.
He has received an additional 10 years for obstruction of justice for removing items, including the victim’s purse, cellphone and wedding ring from the crime scene and tossing the two knives used in the slaying.
Vercher did not take the stand but has repeatedly told investigators he stabbed the victim and hid her body in a field off Carrier Road, just north of Oberlin. He told police he “just snapped” and could not remember how many times he stabbed her, but later led investigators to the body and the murder weapons.
Prosecutors said Rachel Vercher had 30-40 injuries, including stab wounds to the heart and lungs. Her throat had been slit before her body was dragged 10-15 feet through an overgrown, wooded area.
Vercher told investigators he moved the body because he didn’t want anyone to see her and had taken her wedding ring off her finger so that no one would take it.
The verdict was met with sobs from Rachel Vercher’s family, including her two teenage daughters, Blakely Guillory, 16, and Hailey Guillory, 14. Her 10-year-old son, Mason Ware, did not attend the trial.
Afterward, her mother, Rene Lambert, said her daughter finally got the justice she deserved. “Not we can move forward and get him out of the picture,” an emotional Lambert said surrounded by family and friends.
Assistant District Attorney Joe Green simply said, “Justice was served.”
During closing arguments, Green said the case was about “a husband who did very bad things to his wife.” He said Vercher’s words, deeds and action in the hours leading up and following her death indicated he had planned the attack.
He said Vercher had “specific intent” to kill and inflict great bodily harm on Rachel Vercher because he pulled her from the passenger seat of his truck after driving to an isolated road and putting a knife in his back pocket as he got out of the truck, returning later to retrieve a second knife.
Vercher then drove around for nearly an hour going to a convenience store to get money from an ATM and going to two residences before turning himself in to police, he said.
Joseph Eric Vercher’s mother, Rose Vercher, left the courtroom in tears and shaking her head, saying, “It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair.”
When asked by the American Press what wasn’t fair, Rose Vercher said, “All of it.”
Vercher’s attorney, Chad Guidry, did not comment after the trial. Guidry contends the killing was manslaughter because it was done in sudden heat of passion or heat of blood brought about by the couple’s arguments, which left him homeless and estranged from his two grown children.
“Eric Vercher is not a seasoned criminal,” Guidry said during closing statements. “He’s never been inside a jail cell before this night. He knows he did something wrong and he walked into the police station and told them how he did it.
“Manslaughter is not something you confess to at the drop of a hat,” he continued. “He’s not asking to get off on a technicality or call this something it isn’t, because he’s guilty. He’s not arguing he didn’t do something horrible because he did. He snapped … . He lost it.”