WATERLOO, Iowa --In the afternoon of Thursday, May 30, Stanley Liggins was sentenced to life without parole for the murder of Jennifer Lewis in 1990. Judge Marlita Greve denied Liggins’ motion for a new trial reciting the abundant evidence the jury heard to support the conviction.
Back in April, a jury found Stanley Liggins guilty of first-degree murder after his fourth trial in the case.
Deliberations went into a second day before a jury of seven women and five men found Liggins guilty.
Jurors considered a single count of first-degree murder against the 57-year-old man, who was charged in the Sept. 17, 1990 death of Jennifer Lewis of Rock Island, Illinois. Her burning body was found in a field near a Davenport elementary school.
Liggins was convicted of the crime twice; first in a 1993 trial in Scott County and 1995 in Dubuque County. Both convictions were overturned. A third trial took place in September of 2018, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict.
The trial was moved to Black Hawk County because of pretrial publicity.