OGDEN — A man convicted of decapitating a 78-year-old man is appealing his sentence of life in prison without parole.
Richard Quinton Gunn has filed hand-written motions seeking to withdraw his guilty plea and appeal his sentence for the mutilation of Charles W. Leff.
A 12-member 2nd District Court jury was unanimous in determining the sentence March 24. The jury deliberated only two hours before rejecting its only other choice, life with a possibility of parole, for the 55-year-old Gunn.
Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty in return for Gunn's guilty plea to an aggravated homicide charge in the horrific Nov. 2, 1999, slaying.
Gunn used 10 different implements ranging from an ax to a large salad fork to kill and mutilate Leff, whom he suspected of turning his girlfriend against him. He detailed the crime at length in a confession to a detective.
Gunn filed appeal documents this month.
Public defender Mike Bouwhuis was assigned to handle Gunn's motion. Bouwhuis said he was only recently given the case, and he wasn't aware of what grounds Gunn could appeal.
"Just speaking generally, he's probably dissatisfied with his legal representation," Bouwhuis said. "That or not mentally being capable of understanding his plea make up most of what are very few grounds for withdrawing a guilty plea."
Bouwhuis said while he's only representing Gunn on the "narrow issue of whether his plea was properly taken," he didn't see much hope for Gunn's appeal of the sentence, even if he had a lawyer for it instead of pushing it himself, or "pro se."
Bouwhuis said the best Gunn could hope for was a new trial.
"But then he'd be facing the death penalty again," he said.