Christine Moody strolled into court in shackles and a jailbird's jumpsuit — and with a broad smile on her face.
One might question such a positive show, given that the 30-year-old was facing double homicide charges.
But then she sidled up to her man, who was also shackled and outfitted in a striped number that made her own getup look rather plain: her husband Jeremy, 36, who was facing the same charges as Christine.
Jeremy Lee Moody and his wife Christine smile at each other before they were both sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday, May 6, 2014, in Union, S.C. (Image source: AP/Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Tim Kimzey)
There was no need for attorney haggling; the couple pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing a registered sex offender and his wife, WYFF-TV in Greenville, South Carolina, reported.
Before the sentencing for the July 2013 shooting and stabbing deaths of 59-year-old Charles "Butch" Parker and his wife Gretchen, 51, Jeremy Moody had something to say to the court.
"Not a day goes by that I don't regret what I did. I know God has forgiven me. With the right medication, this wouldn't have happened. Please have mercy on Christine and me so we can have the chance to grow old together," he said.
[sharequote align="center"]"Please have mercy on Christine and me so we can have the chance to grow old together.”[/sharequote]
Judge Lee Alford asked Christine Moody if she was promised anything in exchange for her guilty plea. She answered, "Just fame and fortune."
She added, "The Bible clearly states 'Thou shalt not kill.' I'm sorry I broke that commandment."
Alford saw and heard something different.
"These defendants have been smiling at each other in court," he said. "They acted in concert. They brutally killed these two people" and if the Moodys ever got out, they might "kill some other innocent people.”
The couple also pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping and possession of a weapon during commission of the crime of first-degree burglary.
So the judge handed down his sentence: The Moodys each got three life terms in prison, two for the Parkers' murders and one for burglary.
With that, the beaming husband and wife turned to each other.
And kissed.
Jeremy Moody, left, kisses his wife, Christine Moody, right, while standing with their lawyers shortly after they were both sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday, May 6, 2014, in Union, S.C. (Image source: AP/Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Tim Kimzey)
After that, their seemingly apologetic overtures offered just moments before changed radically.
Jeremy Moody yelled that the sentences were "unfair." As he exited the courtroom, he exclaimed, "See you perverts later! That's what child molesters get."
Walking down the steps outside court, WYFF reported Jeremy Moody also said, "Child molesters do not deserve to live,” and, “They got exactly what they deserved. If I had to do it over again, I'd kill more."
As Christine Moody left court she said, “My lawyer made me say that I repented. It was a lie.”
Led to a vehicle, WYFF reported Christine echoed her husband's words: "I think Jeremy and I would have done it again if given the opportunity," and adding, "I have no regrets. Killing that pedophile was the best day of my life."
[sharequote align="center"]"I have no regrets. Killing that pedophile was the best day of my life."[/sharequote]
Concerning the victims’ families she said, “May they die also.”
Union County Sheriff David Taylor said during a news conference after the couple's arrest last summer that the Moodys killed Butch Parker because he was a registered sex offender, that they intended to kill another sex offender afterward, and that three of the victims' surveillance cameras show the Jeremy Moody talking to Butch Parker in his yard, then holding a handgun and walking inside with Parker and Christine Moody.
"We don't have any money," Butch Parker was recorded on camera saying.
Jeremy Moody wasn't interested in cash: "I'm not here to rob you," he's recorded as saying. "I'm here to kill you because you're a child molester."
Taylor said autopsies found that Butch Parker was shot twice — once through the neck and once through the chest — and was also stabbed multiple times. Gretchen Parker was shot in the chest and stabbed multiple times, he said.
Lawyers said the Moodys were sexually abused as children which influenced their desire to carry out revenge against the type of people who hurt them, the Associated Press reported. The Moodys, members of an online white supremacist group called Crew 41, hatched their plan to kill Parker — and anyone else in his house — while in church and carried it out the same day, the AP reported.
