Jury suggests sentence for man in slaying of editor

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A jury has convicted a man of second-degree murder for killing a newspaper editor four years ago to get money for a post-Halloween night of underage drinking.

Ryan Ferguson, who turned 21 on Wednesday, was on trial for first-degree murder in the death of Kent Heitholt, a Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor who was beaten and strangled in the newspaper parking lot on the morning of Nov. 1, 2001.

The jury recommended a sentence of 30 years in prison on the murder conviction and another 10 years on a conviction of first-degree robbery. Boone County Circuit Judge Ellen Roper set Dec. 5 for a hearing to determine whether the sentences will run consecutively or concurrently.

The trial had centered on the memory of Ferguson's former high school classmate Charles Erickson, the prosecution's star witness and an accomplice in the crime. Erickson said he initially repressed his memory of the killing but began to recall details two years later after reading news accounts and traveling past the crime scene.

Erickson pleaded guilty in November to second-degree murder in exchange for his testimony against Ferguson. He faces a sentence of 25 years in prison.

Heitholt, 48, was hit with a tire iron and then strangled as he left the newspaper about 2:10 a.m. Earlier that night, he was celebrating his fifth anniversary with the Tribune.

Ferguson, who maintained his innocence, testified that Erickson confronted him at a New Year's Eve party on Dec. 31, 2003, with concerns that the two had killed Heitholt.

Ferguson attempted to distance himself from Erickson, referring to him as an "acquaintance" whose personality changed after they first met in junior high school.

Ferguson, who was serenaded with "Happy Birthday" by friends and family members at the conclusion of testimony Thursday, reacted to the jury verdict without emotion, though he became teary-eyed as his father gave a statement on behalf of his son.

"I'd like to be able to hold my son before I die," Bill Ferguson said.

During victim impact testimony, Tribune managing editor Jim Robertson recalled Heitholt as a dedicated co-worker whose experience covering sports in Louisiana, Texas and elsewhere inspired his reporters.

"He was a big, jovial teddy bear of a guy," Robertson said of the 6-foot-3-inch, 310-pound Heitholt. "Everybody loved him."

Ferguson faced life in prison with a first-degree murder conviction. As the jury considered a lesser sentence late Friday, defense attorney Charlie Rogers asked the jury to not sentence him to more than 25 years, the same sentence given Erickson.

But Crane urged jurors to sentence Ferguson to life in prison, the maximum penalty.

Boone County prosecutor Kevin Crane pointed out, though, that Columbia police didn't interrogate Erickson until after he had talked with two friends about committing the crime.