Cape man given life sentence for kidnapping, murder

~ His co-defendant is on death row following a 2004 conviction.

WAYNESVILLE, Mo. -- The life sentence for a convicted murderer of a Cape Girardeau County man was imposed Thursday.

Justin Brown, 26, of Cape Girardeau, was convicted by a jury May 18 with first-degree murder and kidnapping in the 2002 death of Ralph Lee Lape Jr., 54.

Lape was abducted from his home near Jackson July 7 by Brown and co-defendant Mark Gill, 35. The pair beat, bound and drove the victim 79 miles to a cornfield in New Madrid County where Lape was fatally shot and buried in a shallow grave, according to prosecutors.

The two men then used Lape's ATM and credit cards at a St. Louis-area strip club and an expensive hotel in the city.

During post-trial motions Thursday before Circuit Judge Tracy L. Storie, defense attorneys presented a motion requesting a new trial, which was denied.

Storie, who oversaw Brown's six-day trial in Pulaski County on a change of venue, sentenced Brown to life in prison without the possibility of probation or parole for the murder conviction and an additional 15 years imprisonment for the kidnapping conviction.

"Short of the death penalty, this was the maximum sentence the judge could impose," according to Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle.

Brown had been eligible for the death penalty, but the jury that convicted him opted not to recommend capital punishment.

Gill was found guilty in 2004 of the same charges as Brown and sentenced to death. He awaits execution.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

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