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ST. CLAIRSVILLE – A shocking murder and its aftermath concluded early today with the sentencing of Michael Christopher LaMotte, who was convicted last week of shooting his wife, Beverly LaMotte, to death.
LaMotte may spend the rest of his life behind bars for the crime, as Judge Frank Fregiato handed down the maximum sentence – life without parole for 15 years, plus an additional three years for a firearm specification that resulted in a term of life without parole for 18 years.
“The good citizens of Belmont County are not naive. Mrs. LaMotte receives her justice today,” Fregiato said.
Several of LaMotte’s family members and friends went to the stand today and asked the judge to consider clemency, and expressed their doubt that LaMotte committed the crime.
LaMotte will be 82 years old before he is eligible for parole.
Police were summoned to the LaMottes’ Bridgeport residence in late October 2014, alerted by a 911 call from their daughter, indicating that Michael LaMotte had shot his wife.
Beverly LaMotte’s body was found outside the home. A forensic examination would determine she had been shot three times, hours earlier, and left outside the house. The placement of her wounds made suicide highly unlikely, according to investigators. Michael LaMotte was inside the residence, apparently intoxicated.
Last week, a jury returned a guilty verdict after a four-day trial. This marked the second trial in the case. LaMotte had been tried earlier in the summer, but that jury had been unable to reach a unanimous decision.
Both trials saw both testimony and extensive recorded evidence presented by the state. This included recordings of Michael LaMotte responding to call made to his home instructing him to leave the premises, video of him on the drive to the sheriff’s office, and recordings of his interview by detectives.
Witnesses for the defense included LaMotte’s daughter, who testified that she had been in a state of distress during her 911 call and that she had no memory of implicating her father. Michael LaMotte’s friends and family also testified to the presence of drugs and alcohol-related activity at the residence.
The first trial also saw LaMotte take the stand in his own defense. He testified then that he had no memory of the events of day his wife died, adding that he had been drinking heavily.