Wheelchair-Bound Millionaire Convicted in 1983 Richmond Cold Case Murder After Skipping Verdict Reading

A jury found Sherill Smothers guilty on Thursday of murdering a single mother in her Richmond, California home in 1983 while her children slept in the next room, closing a cold case that had gone unsolved for more than 35 years. Smothers now faces a sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.

The case took a dramatic turn earlier in the week when Smothers, who uses a wheelchair after being partially paralyzed in a car accident five years after the murder, failed to appear at the Martinez courthouse for the reading of the jury's verdict. His absence prompted the judge to issue a no-bail bench warrant, and Richmond police feared he had fled while free on bail. He was later located and arrested at his home.

Smothers had been free on a $1.3 million bail, funded in part by a $6 million judgment he won after successfully suing General Motors over the car accident that left him partially paralyzed. DNA evidence ultimately linked him to the decades-old crime scene, allowing prosecutors to bring charges long after the case had otherwise stalled.