Blunt commutes sentence of convicted Scott County murderer

A Morley, Mo., woman who pleaded guilty to murdering her husband in 2000 could be released from prison later this year after Gov. Matt Blunt commuted her sentence on Saturday.

Charity Sue Carey was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2002 for the Oct. 24, 2000, shooting death of her husband, Michael Carey, in their mobile home in Morley. On Saturday, Blunt announced in a news release he was commuting her 30-year sentence for second-degree murder to 10 years, making her eligible for parole later this year.

Blunt also commuted the sentence of Stacey Ann Lannert, a St. Louis woman convicted of murdering her father in 1990. In the news release, Blunt cited the pattern of violence the women endured at the hands of their victims for years leading up to their respective crimes as the reason for his action.

"Stacey Lannert and Charity Carey have paid for their crimes," Blunt said in the release. "In both cases, the abuse these women suffered was clearly a mitigating factor in their actions. It is my hope and belief that when Ms. Lannert and Ms. Carey are paroled that they will become productive members of society."

Carey's mother, Sue Orzech, said Saturday was "absolutely the most wonderful day in the world." She heard the news directly from Charity, who called her Saturday afternoon.

Orzech said the worst day of her life was when her daughter was sentenced to prison.

"We hoped, we prayed, but we knew it could go either way, but we just kept praying and our prayers were answered," Orzech said of the commutation, expressing her gratitude to the Washington University School of Law's Civil Justice Clinic, which helped bring the case to the governor's attention.

Orzech said she didn't know about the abuse Charity was suffering until after the murder.

Michael Carey's mother, Ava Carey, said the news was disappointing to her and her family.

"When she was sentenced on June 5, 2002, some of our family members were at her trial, and we understood her to be sentenced to 30 years and have to serve at least 25.5 years for Michael's murder," Ava Carey said. She said the development was "quite a shock."

Orzech said she hasn't spoken to the Carey family since the murder, but "I am sorry they lost their son. I've lost two sons of my own, and I know how it is to lose a child, so I sympathize very deeply with them losing their son, but nothing we can do is going to bring him back."

The news release said Blunt commuted the sentence to 10 years because 10 years is the state's recommended sentence for second-degree murder with "mitigating circumstances" -- in this case the abuse that Charity Carey endured at her husband's hands. Under Missouri law, Charity Carey is up for parole after 85 percent of her sentence. Carey "has conducted herself in an exemplary manner" while in prison, the release stated.

The news release said Michael Carey began abusing Charity six months into their marriage, abuse that worsened over the next three years when Michael began raping Charity and threatening to kill her and her son.

Michael Carey's wife before Charity and a former girlfriend gave depositions that they were also abused by him, and the former wife testified that he had been convicted of raping her 13-year-old daughter, the news release stated.

Charity Carey made a 911 call the night of Oct. 24, 2000, and police arrived at the couple's mobile home to find Michael Carey lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor with small-caliber bullet wounds in his head and chest. There were signs of a struggle, but no evidence of a break-in.

msanders@semissourian.com

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