Convicted Columbia killer sentenced to 30 years
Boone County Circuit Judge Kevin Crane sentenced convicted killer Anthony Shegog to 30 years in prison on Monday afternoon. The 58-year-old Shegog was convicted of second degree murder in September.
A life sentence for second degree murder in Missouri is calculated at 30 years.
Shegog was convicted of killing Walter Lige in Columbia on October 6, 2014. Court documents say Lige was found lying behind a home on Washington Avenue. Lige was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Court documents say Columbia Police found a knife on the kitchen counter in Shegog’s apartment that was still wet from being washed. The documents say the water on the blade had a pink tinge to it that was consistent with blood in water.
Boone County prosecutors spoke to ABC 17 News after charges were filed, and prosecutors said that Shegog had lied to Columbia Police.
In court Monday, three of Lige’s family members spoke in court asking Judge Crane to give Shegog the maximum sentence.
ABC 17 talked to the family after the sentencing about their reaction to the judge’s decision.
“I feel relieved,” Lige’s widow Marcella Lige said. “I knew that if we did not get the justice here we have another judge that would be doing the judging. So I feel that Walter has his justice now and we can be at peace.”
“On this end with justice I have closure,” Lige’s step-daughter Bridget Banks said. “But I’m gonna always miss Walter.”
“He has a violent past,” Lige’s step-son Alen Petty Jr. said about Shegog. “And I believe that it just escalated and finally caught up with him. And yes I’m happy with the verdict, very happy.”
Shegog spoke out in court Monday telling Judge Crane he did not believe he should be sentenced, claiming he did not kill Lige.
Shegog has 90 days to appeal the sentence.
