The 47-year-old man, Robert, was reportedly a former boyfriend of Brittany’s mother and raised her for about a decade after her mother abandoned her. He had been put on probation after pleading “no contest” to molesting Brittany as a child. During the trial, Robert denied abusing her. He was convicted of molesting when she was between the ages of 4 and 12 while he was dating her mother and was given probation. But, reportedly, Brittany and her boyfriend Jace believed that was not enough.
When Brittany was 17 and seven months pregnant with Jace’s child, they both broke into Robert’s trailer, while he was sleeping. Robert was beaten, stabbed and strangled, then stuffed inside a 55-gallon plastic drum that was inside the trailer. Jace was found guilty of second-degree murder after he confessed to stabbing and strangling Robert to death. Jace said that he does not regret killing Robert. He described himself as Brittany’s guardian, her protector, her hope. “I feel a lot better,” he reportedly. “It’s not regret. Is it remorse? I’m not sorry for what I did.”
On the night of the murder, the couple reportedly drove to a nearby Walmart to purchase batteries for their walkie talkies and blue latex gloves. They dressed in all black and Brittany put her hair up as to not leave behind any evidence. They told investigators that they intended only to hurt Robert, not kill him. However, during the act, they became more aggressive and took his life. Robert was killed inside of his trailer and his body was stuffed into a 55-gallon container. Brittany’s gloves were found inside the container, leading police to catch the couple.
We do not live in a country where we as a society are allowed to take the law into our own hands to do justice,” said prosecutor Miller. “That’s what happened here. This is not a Shakespearean tragedy. This is not a Hollywood movie. This is the killing of a human being, whether you like him or not.” Brittany pleaded guilty to manslaughter shortly before Jace’s second-degree murder trial and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. She is seeking reconsideration of that term.
