USA - North Carolina. Jimmy McNeill was re-sentenced to life without parole

Jimmy McNeill was re-sentenced to life without parole in a hearing today. McNeill, 56, black, was sentenced to death on July 15, 2003 (see) in the April 10, 2000 murder of his estranged wife, Shirley McNeill, 25, black. But the death sentence was vacated in March by a Scotland County Richard Doughton after a jurist confessed to discussing the case with her pastor. McNeill never denied he killed his wife, instead arguing he committed second-degree murder. The decision not to retry the case in resentencing McNeill was made by the family of the victim, who doesn’t want to go through with the process again.