Sandra Plunkett’s murder conviction affirmed
The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District on Tuesday unanimously affirmed Sandra Plunkett’s murder conviction.
The 41-year-old Plunkett, of Holts Summit, was convicted in 2014 in Callaway County of first degree murder and armed criminal action. She was sentenced to life in prison, and is currently incarcerated in Vandalia.
The appeals court heard oral arguments in the Plunkett case July 30 in Kansas City. Plunkett’s attorney argued that the trial court erred by refusing to submit a proposed self-defense instruction to the jury, by overruling her motions to suppress evidence and by adding testimony at trial regarding evidence that Plunkett sought to suppress.
In a unanimous 17-page ruling, the three-judge panel rejected Plunkett’s arguments and affirmed the conviction. The judges were Cynthia Martin, Joseph Ellis and James Welsh. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster’s office represented the state.
Prosecutors said Sandra Plunkett killed her husband, Paul, on Jan. 1, 2011. During the emotional 2014 trial, prosecutors told the jury that Plunkett killed her husband for his life insurance money to pay for her heroin addiction.
Court documents say Paul Plunkett was shot in the head with a rifle.
Sandra Plunkett’s lawyer told the jury in 2014 that she killed her husband because she feared that he would kill her. Sandra Plunkett’s defense at trial was battered spouse syndrome, but prosecutors attacked that defense.
Sandra Plunkett married Jefferson City Police officer Paul Plunkett in 1998. Paul Plunkett retired from the JCPD in 2008.
