Shepherd gets two life sentences

KENTON - A rapist released from prison a year ago pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of aggravated murder in the slayings of two Kenton women.

Terry Shepherd, 40, received two life sentences without parole during the 2:30 p.m. hearing today in Hardin County Common Pleas Court.

Prosecutors are asking Judge William Hart to sentence Shepherd to two life sentences without the chance for parole, to be served consecutively.

When Judge Hart asked Shepherd if he wanted to be heard, he said, "No, I don't wish to be heard. I will say this. I'm atheist, so I don't get into all those spirits. I sleep well. They want to bring their religion in, so I'll bring mine in."

Shepherd was charged in the Oct. 12 disappearance and murders of Deborah England, 52, and Judy Kearley, 57, both of Kenton. Shepherd talked the women into giving him a ride. He took them to a rural Hardin County location. He killed them and set the house on fire to burn their bodies, authorities said.

The judge listened to victim statements, including one woman who read a letter saying she'd lock Shepherd in a cell and burn a part of his body every day the rest of his life.

Other victims said they weren't afraid of him, and he should be afraid of them. Shepherd just looked at the victims' families and friends as they read their letters or made their statements.

"We need the closure to want to know why," asked Donald Morrison, a family member of Kearley's.

During the reading of the statement of facts, prosecutors revealed Shepherd tried to steal the truck driven by England and Kearley. Using the lie he needed a ride to Forest, he took them to a business there and tied one woman up.

When the other woman tried to use a cell phone to call 911, Shepherd discovered it and crushed the phone. He tied her up and put both of them in the back of the truck.

On the way back, England broke free and smashed out the back window of the truck with a hammer. She tried to hit Shepherd, prosecutors said.

He grabbed the hammer from her and hit England. She then stood up and fell out of the truck, smashing her head on the road. Shepherd loaded her back into the truck, assuming she was dead.

Kearley choked to death in the back of the truck, prosecutors said.

That's when Shepherd took the women to a rural Hardin County location and burned their bodies in the house.

Shepherd pleaded guilty last week to killing a 78-year-old widow inside her Wyandot County home in September. Claradell Keller's charred remains were found in her burned-out home in late September. Shepherd could receive a life sentence without parole for aggravated murder in that case.

Shepherd has spent most of his adult life in prison. He first was sent to prison in 1986 for raping a 54-year-old Findlay woman when he was a teenager.

Read more about this story in Saturday's The Lima News. This story was first posted at 2:32 p.m. and updated at 2:48 p.m., 2:55 p.m., 3:01 p.m., 3:29 p.m. and 3:33 p.m.