Joseph Wielzen.
This guy raped the victim, beat her to death with a baseball bat and then dumped her corpse in a trash can.
He may not be a nigger (I don’t know what he is), but he certainly has the spirit of one.
The man convicted in the 2017 rape and murder of 18-year-old Kelsey N. Burnette in McMinn County, Tennessee, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In Tennessee, a life sentence with parole is 51 years, but in Joseph Wielzen’s case, he won’t be released, court officials said.
Jurors who convicted Wielzen on Wednesday were tasked Thursday with determining whether he will serve a life sentence with or without parole during a hearing in McMinn County Criminal Court before Judge Sandra Donaghy. Both the state and defense rested their cases by early Thursday afternoon.
David and Virginia “Sissy” Burnette, the parents of the victim, both said they were satisfied with the sentence and thankful to the prosecutors, investigators and “everybody who worked so hard.”
“I’m happy with the decision,” David Burnette said. “It’s been a lot of stress on the family.”
“We’ll be able to sleep a little better now that this is over,” Sissy Burnette said.
Wielzen’s father, Perry Wielzen, declined comment.
Wielzen, 19, was convicted of first-degree felony murder and rape in Burnette’s death. “Felony murder” is a count of murder that occurs during the commission of another felony crime, in this case, aggravated rape.
Kelsey Burnette, left.