Alabama man convicted in couple’s 2015 slayings
ONEONTA, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama jury has convicted a 22-year-old man in the 2015 shotgun slayings of a Blount County couple, and was sentenced to life without parole.
Al.com reports William Lane Bosner, of Oneonta, was found guilty Tuesday of capital murder in the deaths of Gary Hazelrig, 43, and Breann Sherrer, 36, whose bodies were discovered in their home after friends and family were unable to reach them.
Hazelrig was the son of former longtime Blount County schools superintendent Joe Mack Hazelrig. Sherrer was the sister of University of Georgia assistant football coach Kevin Sherrer, who previously played football at the University of Alabama, and was on the football staff there and at the University of South Alabama.
According to a press release from Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey, the shootings happened in September 2015, becoming the county’s first double killing since the 1970s.
Earlier this year, Paul Mason Trull, 20, was convicted of two counts of felony murder and other charges in their deaths. He was sentenced to 75 years in prison. A third suspect, Michael Cody Dooley, 32, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and other charges. He received 50 years in prison.
Dooley ultimately admitted his involvement in the murders and told authorities where they could find a 4-wheeler that was missing from the couple’s home. They found the ATV, as well as a silver Dodge truck that had been used to move the 4-wheeler.
Dooley took investigators to the victims’ missing phones that he had thrown under a bridge, and also led them to a large box in the woods that contained a bat-like instrument, multiple guns (one of which was used in the double murder), ammunition, and a television, guitar and other items missing from the victims’ home.
Dooley told authorities the trio went to the couple’s home to rob them of drugs Sept. 13. Throughout the early-morning hours on Sept. 14, they took items from the home. Dooley said he later burned the clothes he wore during the murders, and investigators found a burn pile in his backyard.
A forensic pathologist has testified that, the fatal shot was fired with the muzzle of the rifle placed against Sherrer’s head. Hazelrig was shot multiple times in the head and torso with a .22-caliber rifle and at least one time with a shotgun.
“This has been a long two years for the Sherrer and Hazelrig families. These verdicts and sentences will never bring back their loved ones,” Casey said. “While this does not bring closure, it does complete the trial process for this horrible, senseless act of evil.”