Life sentences given to man convicted in couple’s slaying

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A man convicted in the case of a couple who was kidnapped, tortured and killed in a 2007 carjacking in Tennessee is going to prison having heard emotional testimony from the victims’ relatives.

News outlets report 47-year-old Eric Boyd was sentenced in Knoxville on Wednesday to two consecutive life terms plus 90 years in prison. Boyd was found guilty last month in the deaths of 21-year-old Channon Christian and 23-year-old Christopher Newsom.

Boyd is the fifth defendant to be sentenced. Another defendant, 36-year-old George Thomas, testified against Boyd last month as a part of a plea deal which shortened his sentence to 50 years.

Many of the couple’s relatives gave impact statements including Newsom’s mother Mary Newsom who called Boyd “a poor excuse for a human being.”