LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Chevie Kehoe has been given three sentences of life in prison without parole for the murders of an Arkansas family as part of a scheme to overthrow the federal government and set up a whites-only nation.
The jury of nine blacks and three whites deliberated about six hours Friday, then returned Monday and met about 30 minutes before announcing they had reached a decision."It appears that the jury took a solemn approach to their duties, and this was a difficult decision, but mercy was shown to Chevie," said Kehoe lawyer Mark Hampton.
Co-counsel John Hall said the defense would appeal the conviction and sentence, although they are still developing their arguments for an appeal.
Prosecutors had asked that Kehoe of Colville, Wash., be put to death for the 1996 killings of Tilly gun dealer William Mueller, his wife Nancy and her 8-year-old daughter, Sarah Powell. The three were suffocated with plastic bags, weighed down with rocks and tossed into a western Arkansas bayou during a robbery.
Kehoe was arrested in Cedar City, Utah, in June 1997 where he had been working for a farmer.
Last week, the jury convicted Kehoe and co-defendant Danny Lee of Yukon, Okla., of racketeering, conspiracy and three counts of murder. The prosecution said the two 26-year-olds were part of an enterprise, headed by Kehoe, that committed crimes to further the cause of setting up an Aryan People's Republic in the Pacific Northwest.
U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Eisele will decide the penalties for the racketeering and conspiracy convictions for each man.
Kehoe, wearing a gray suit and dark blue shirt, appeared subdued as the sentences were read Monday and made no comment afterward to reporters as U.S. marshals led him away in handcuffs.
Kehoe's lawyers had argued their client was an intelligent person, a "loving father" of four small children, who could lead a productive life in prison, even if only to discourage his children from a life of crime. They said Kehoe was from a "dysfunctional family" and was influenced by his parents and others who led him to adopt extremist political and social views. They said Kehoe's father, Kirby Kehoe, led Chevie into a life of crime.
Among crimes that jurors found were included in Kehoe's enterprise were the 1995 robbery of a Washington couple, the Mueller robbery and murder, and a 1997 Ohio shootout with police.
Kehoe and his brother, Cheyne Kehoe, were caught on videotape in the shootout and the video was broadcast nationwide. Cheyne Kehoe, who testified against his brother, was found guilty and sentenced to prison in the Ohio case. Chevie Kehoe pleaded guilty to crimes in the shootout and has yet to be sentenced.