For his role in the death of a Montana sheriff’s deputy, a California man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday.
District Judge Kathy Seeley sentenced Lloyd Barrus to three life sentences after an accountability jury found him guilty of the premeditated murder of Broadwater County Crimes of Deputy Representative Mason Moore in May 2017. Barrus, 66, was also convicted of two counts of attempted manslaughter after his son shot and killed the vehicle of a second police officer.
Marshall Barrus, 38, was fatally wounded in a shootout with police east of Missoula following the conclusion of a manhunt. According to the Montana Standard, defence attorneys argued that Burroughs should have remained at Montana State Hospital because he was delusional and unable to assess the criminality of his actions.
Prosecutors stated during Butte’s three-week trial that Lloyd and Marshall Barrus discussed a “suicide mission” prior to the 16-year-old’s pursuit. old’s
Prosecutors claim that while driving, Lloyd Barrus fired a shot that struck Moore in the face. Prosecutors said Moore’s car stopped, the camera in the car recorded his voice, and then another car pulled up and the people inside fired more shots.
The trial was delayed because prosecutors initially sought the death penalty for Lloyd Barrus before determining that he lacked the mental capacity to stand trial. Barrus was injected with antipsychotics on Seely’s orders because he refused to take them to treat his paranoia. In January 2020, the Montana Supreme Court upheld the mandatory drug treatment order. Burroughs, whose last known address prior to his arrest was in Bakersfield, California, was involved in the March 2000 shootings of Nevada and California law enforcement officers.
Barrus, his son Jeffrey Barrus, and a woman were apprehended in California after fleeing from Nevada Highway Patrol officers and firing upon them during a 70-mile pursuit. In the vicinity of Furnace Creek, their vehicle broke down, and they retreated into the canyon, initiating an 18-hour standoff in Death Valley. They reportedly fired upon a California Highway Patrol helicopter and forced it to land. Nobody was injured.
Categorized in:
