KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two inmates at a federal facility in Springfield have been sentenced to death for killing another inmate.
Wesley Paul Coonce Jr., 34, and Charles Michael Hall, 43, both inmates at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, were each convicted in May of first-degree murder in the 2010 death of 51-year-old Victor Castro-Rodriguez in his cell at the facility. Coonce was also convicted of murder by an inmate serving a life sentence.
The U.S. Justice Department said in a release that Coonce and Hall were sentenced to death Monday.
Coonce is serving a life sentence out of Texas for a September 2002 kidnapping conviction. He also was convicted in Gainesville, Texas, in 1998 of assaulting a public servant. Hall is serving 16 years for a 2000 conviction in Maine for threatening a federal judge and a federal prosecutor. He told investigators he wanted to be sentenced to death for killing Castro, according to court documents.
The Springfield facility is one of six federal medical centers and takes federal prisoners at all security levels.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less