Bank robber gets maximum sentence

William M. White III, a Maryland man convicted of robbing a Cape Girardeau bank in August 2006, was sentenced to 30 years in prison Monday.

Circuit Judge William L. Syler Jr. imposed the sentence because White's criminal history, combined with the fact that the robbery was part of a "crime spree" called for the maximum penalty, according to a news release from prosecuting attorney Morley Swingle's office.

White is accused of robbing banks in California, Arizona and Utah before robbing the US Bank at 3060 William St. on Aug. 12, 2006 by presenting teller Aaron Randolph with a slip of paper which Randolph testified at trial said, "I have a gun. No cops. I'll kill. Hundreds and fifties."

White fled the bank with $2,600, but a state trooper caught up with him in Sikeston, Mo., and placed him in custody.

At a trial Sept. 18, Alwyn S. Whitehead Jr., a forensic psychologist, testified for the defense that White slipped into "disassociative fugue" state two weeks before the US Bank robbery and was completely unaware of his actions at the time.

Whitehead testified that traumatic sexual abuse that occurred during White's childhood, combined with a recent broken engagement with his fiancee, caused his conscious mind to disconnect itself from reality, and he couldn't remember anything he'd done during the robbery.

A jury rejected the defense's argument that White did not act consciously. On Sept. 19, they found him guilty of first-degree robbery.

At the sentencing hearing Monday, White spoke on his own behalf, asking Syler to disregard the fact that he was a suspect in a murder investigation in Maryland when he imposed the sentence, according to the news release. Syler said the uncharged murder allegation did not factor into his ruling.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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