SCOTTSBORO, Ala. – A man convicted in September of the 1997 Jackson County slaying of his first wife was sentenced to life in prison Thursday after a hearing before Jackson County Circuit Court Judge John Graham.
Dressed in a tan Jackson County Jail jumpsuit and shackled hand and foot, Barry Van Whitton, 46, formerly of Section, did not react as Graham announced the sentence in the murder of 28-year-old Michelle Townson Whitton. Whitton also must pay a total of $30,000 in fines and victim compensation ordered by Graham.
Several members of Michelle Whitton’s family in the gallery wept.
Assistant District Attorney Leigh Gwathney read an Oct. 13 letter into the court record that was written by Joyce Smart, Michelle Whitton’s mother.
“‘I never imagined Michelle would grow up to be murdered,'” the letter read. Smart pointed to weeks, months and years of emotional agony as she tried to move through life without justice for her daughter. She noted Michelle would have been 46 years old on Wednesday, had she lived.