Margaret Litchfield was sentenced by a Coryell County judge Tuesday to 60 years in prison for the January 29, 1999 murder of her husband in Copperas Cove.
During the two-week duration of the trial, 33 witnesses and more than 140 exhibits were entered during the two-week long trial.
The jury deliberated for four hours before reaching a guilty verdict, according to a press release.
Litchfield chose to be sentenced by 52nd Judicial District Judge Trent Farrell, who heard from four witnesses from the State and seven witnesses from the defense during the hearing Tuesday.
After a lunch break, Farrell returned at 2:00 p.m. where he sentenced Litchfield.
According to the press release, on January 29, 1999, the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to 757 Lawson Lane, Copperas Cove to a questionable death at the home of Raymond Litchfield.
Officers entered the home and noticed the Raymond Litchfield’s body on the kitchen floor, nude and covered in blood. Litchfield had a gunshot wound to the right side of the chest and two gunshot wounds to the back.
Margaret Litchfield told investigators she received a call that woke her husband up at 5:00 a.m. on the same day as the murder. Litchfield told investigators her husband decided to get up and drink some coffee.
She also told them it was raining when she was leaving and her husband decided to go back to bed.
According to Margaret Litchfield, her husband told her to leave the gate open as “some guys were coming over.”
Investigators were also told that she reportedly left their home at 6:30 a.m. and returned at 2:00 p.m. to find her husband dead.
Crime scene Reconstructionist Tome Bevel testified the victim was in bed asleep on his back when he was shot in the chest. As her husband rolled to his left, he was shot again. He was able to get out of the bed and move toward the doorway when he was shot another time.
Raymond Litchfield moved down the hallway to the front of the refrigerator where he came to rest.
Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns testified the husband’s body was in a stage of rigor mortis that he determined was between 8 and 18 hours, but based on his training and experience was more likely around the 12 hour mark.
Witnesses in the case included people with banking and financial information related to the financial condition of the couple.
Litchfield did not tell her husband about $8,000 charged to his credit card prior to when he applied for a loan for a new boat he was going to purchase on the day of the murder.
Litchfield killed her husband to avoid confrontation.
