Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff WriterCharles Halm was sentenced for attacking and strangling Bernadette Myers, 53, in her St. Petersburg home in March 2003.
LARGO - A Pinellas Park man will spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of a St. Petersburg woman two years ago.
A jury convicted Charles Halm, 45, of first-degree murder last week in the March 2003 slaying of Bernadette Myers, 53. Authorities said Halm attacked Myers in her home, strangled her with plastic cable ties and stole her jewelry.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty against Halm, suggesting the case qualified because Halm committed the crime for financial gain and that it was particularly atrocious and cruel.
But Halm's defense attorneys argued that Halm suffered from an abusive childhood and began using drugs at a young age.
The same jury that convicted Halm took less than a half-hour Monday to recommend a life sentence.
Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Dee Anna Farnell, who is required to give the jury recommendation great weight, then sentenced Halm to life in prison. He never will be eligible for parole and will die behind bars.
Prosecutors said Halm knew Myers because he had painted her house. When Myers failed to show up for work at Honeywell International on March 4, 2003, co-workers called Pinellas deputies, who found her dead in her home.
Detectives soon discovered that Halm had pawned Myers' jewelry the day her body was found. They also learned he had given some jewelry to friends, including a silver watch Myers had worn at a family gathering the day before. A photo taken at the gathering clearly shows Myers wearing the watch.
Myers' niece, Michele Twitty, said she approved of the jury's recommendation. She tearfully remembered her aunt in a statement to the judge Monday and said she wasn't seeking a death sentence.
"I believe God blessed him today and I'm okay with that," Twitty said.