- Michael Moore is also guilty of kidnapping and robbery in connection with his wife's murder
- The jury had to choose between a life sentence and death sentence
- Victim's daughter hopes killer finds Christ, and says she forgives him
A Cumberland County jury on Wednesday spared the life of Michael John Moore Sr. after convicting him last week for the asphyxiation murder of his wife, 43-year-old Marcquius “Wendy” Clarrissa Timmons-Moore.
The jury could have voted to give Michael Moore the death penalty.
Instead, Michael Moore, 47, is to spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance for parole.
At his sentencing on Wednesday afternoon, Wendy Moore’s family members told Michael that Wendy’s slaying will haunt them for the rest of their lives.
“I’d like to know if you have accepted Christ as your lord and savior,” Wendy Moore’s 14-year-old daughter, Imani McDowell, said in a letter that was read to the court. Imani was 10 when her mother was murdered.
Imani said she had been angry and struggled after her mother’s death, but then she went to a Christian school and found faith.
“God forgives you, and even though you hurt me in a way I can’t imagine, I forgive you, too,” she wrote.
Previous coverage:
Autopsy report:Bound head to foot, face wrapped in duct tape and trash bags, a message in red on the wall
Guilty verdict:Jury says Fayetteville man tied up his wife, smothered her with trash bags
Killed his wife and went to Vegas
This same jury last week concluded Michael Moore had tied up and handcuffed Wendy Moore nude in their bed and tied her by her neck and her feet to the bed’s head and footboard. He used duct tape, zip ties and electrical cords. And then he killed Wendy Moore by putting three plastic trash bags over her head and zip-tying them around her neck.
The autopsy report said Wendy Moore died from a lack of oxygen.
After killing his wife, Michael Moore went to Las Vegas with Wendy Moore’s car and jewelry. He denies killing his wife, saying someone did this while he was on the trip to Vegas.
Wendy Moore’s body was found about a week after Michael Moore left Fayetteville after her mother and her co-workers had reported her missing to the Fayetteville Police Department. Officers broke into the couple’s home in the Cottonade neighborhood on Aug. 22, 2018, and found her remains, tied in the fetal position on the bed.
A piece of black plastic in her hand suggested that she struggled to save herself as she suffocated, but her hands had been zip-tied to her knees, and with her neck tied to the head of the bed, she could not reach high enough to rip the trash bags away from her face.
Michael Moore told the jury he did not kill his wife, that Wendy Moore was slain after he got on the road to Las Vegas.
Jury struggled to decide on life sentence vs. death sentence
The jury deliberated for about five hours and 45 minutes before settling on the sentence of life with no parole instead of the death penalty. Jurors had been divided on that point, said Assistant Public Defender Carl Ivarsson, who spoke with jury members afterward.
The jury had tried several times to return its decision but had not properly filled out the verdict paperworkthat outlined how they reached the conclusion. And at one point when polled by a show of hands, several jurors disagreed with the life sentence.
Superior Court Judge Gale M. Adams sent them back to deliberate further.
In addition to murder, the jury last week found Michael Moore guilty of common-law robbery for taking the jewelry, which included bracelets and wedding rings, and of first-degree kidnapping for tying Wendy to the bed.
For those crimes, Adams imposed sentences of at least six years, but no more than nine years, on top of the sentence of life without parole. The sentences are to be served consecutively.
Michael Moore stood, hands in pockets, in gray and black dress clothes, and listened as Adams sentenced him. He stood alone as he had dismissed Ivarsson and Public Defender Black from the case last week.
Family left with‘enormous black hole’
Wendy Moore’s family had plenty to say to Michael Moore. As he sat and watched and listened, they told him God requires them to forgive him, but they will never forget.
“My prayer for you is for you to repent your sins, repent of your evil crime, and continue to trust God no matter what happens to you from this day forth,” said La’Tarsha Livingston, who with her husband, Danner, is raising Imani. Danner is Wendy’s cousin.
La’Tarsha Livingston cited Michael Moore’s previous comments in court that he had lost his beautiful wife and he misses waking up to see her every morning.
“The whole time we had to go through this process, you didn’t shed one tear, but your wife was ‘so beautiful,’” Livingston said. “You didn’t sit here and show any emotion, but your wife was ‘so beautiful.’ You didn’t sit here and even act like you even cared, but yet said you liked to look up to her beautiful face every day.”
Livingston read a letter from Wendy Moore’s mother.
“As a result of the murder of my daughter, I am living … an entirely different lifestyle, which leaves an enormous black hole in my life and the lives of her children, sister, family and friends, from which we may never recover.”
Despite not obtaining a death sentence, Assistant District Attorney Robby Hicks said he and fellow prosecutor Rob Thompson are pleased that the jury found Michael Moore guilty of murder.
“I am happy to have been a part of a team effort that has achieved a measure of justice for Wendy, her daughter, her family and our community,” Hicks said.
Senior North Carolina reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at 910-261-4710 and pwoolverton@gannett.com.
