CADIZ – Applause filled the courtroom Tuesday as Wesley “Buster” Clark was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for 30 years in the fatal shooting of Dustin Moreland, 26, of Dennison, Ohio.

Harrison County Court of Common Pleas Judge T. Shawn Hervey read the sentence to a full gallery of tearful family members of both men who have been consistently present in the courtroom throughout the prosecution of the case.

Clark, 53, formerly of Uhrichsville, Ohio, was arrested after a three-day manhunt in May when Moreland’s body was discovered near Taylor Road in Harrison County. Clark pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated murder after initially entering a plea of innocence.

Harrison County Prosecutor Owen Beetham asked for the maximum sentence at the start of the proceeding due to what he portrayed as the heinous nature of the crime. Beetham told the court that although Clark plead guilty to aggravated murder, which spared the family and the court system a trial, “the evidence in this case would have shown that the defendant plotted and planned this for weeks.”

“This wasn’t a heat of the moment crime. This wasn’t some argument gone awry – this was cold blooded pre-calculated murder,” Beetham said. “He set this up as a job in Texas, but there was no job. That was all a ruse, that was a lie, that was made up, it was part of the plan,” Beetham continued. “Instead, he took him down a quiet country road in Harrison county and shot him to death and left his body there.”

Hervey heard from multiple family members, while a victim advocate read several impact statements describing the struggle family members have faced as a result of the murder.

“You took my own son from me – you took him away from his mother, his wife, but mostly you took him away from his kids,” Moreland’s father, Ron Moreland Jr., said while addressing Clark. “These boys will never get the chance to know their dad or what kind of man he was. They will never get the chance to hold or hug him or have him teach them how to go fishing or camping or to play baseball, football, or just playing around, working on small projects.”

Clark was also given the opportunity to speak and said, “I’ve hurt a lot of people, the Moreland family, my family,” Clark said. “I am sorry.”

“Mr. Moreland said some things that got to me,” he continued. “I think about it every day,” Clark added.

Hervey noted several factors that affected sentencing, including that Clark used his knowledge of the victim to commit the crime, as well as to plan and execute it. Hervey also said that the offense was committed while the defendant was on community control with another court for another crime.

“He was on community control and had escaped from his detention at the time,” Hervey said.

Hervey also said that Clark had several previous criminal convictions and read through the “highlights” of his criminal record. Clark was found guilty in 1995 on two counts of felonious assault with gun specifications in Ohio and found guilty of manslaughter in North Dakota in 1998. In addition, he was found guilty of forgery in Tuscarawas County twice, once in 2011 and again in 2014 when he was also convicted of theft.

“Justice, I feel, was served,” Moreland said after the proceedings. “I want to thank everybody for what they’ve done.”

Beetham said the state is satisfied with the sentencing and and noted the sentencing will allow the family to begin to move forward.

“This was probably one of the most heinous crimes imaginable,” Beetham added.