Teresa Stone gets eight years in husband’s death

Teresa Stone was sentenced to eight years in prison on Friday for conspiracy to commit the murder of her husband, Randy Stone, who was shot and killed by David Love, a former pastor at New Hope Baptist Church in Independence.

Teresa was Love’s lover for 10 years, prosecutors disclosed for the first time since the shooting death in March 2010, and both had planned to run away and get married.

Speaking before a packed courthouse, with others crowded outside, Stone sobbed heavily and at one point bent over to collect herself before proceeding.

“I take full responsibility for my actions,” she said to Judge Marco Roldan before he sentenced her. “I’m so sorry. I know I caused pain. … I just don’t want to lose my family.”

Members of her family were in attendance Friday, including her two children, Miranda and Michael, both of whom testified before the court.

“I can’t bear the thought of losing both of my parents,” Miranda said tearfully.

Friday’s sentencing ends a long and bizarre case that has captivated the Kansas City area and the nation. Love pleaded guilty Nov. 8, 2011, and is serving a life sentence.

Prosecutors revealed for the first time since the March 2010 shooting many details of the case, beginning with Keith Rosewaren, the lead detective for the Independence Police Department.

While family members said that Stone and Love had been having an affair for 10 years, Rosewaren confirmed it on Friday, testifying that at one point Teresa became pregnant with Love’s child but suffered a miscarriage.

Love was a friend and fixture in Randy’s life, according to prosecutors. Randy kept a self-help manual, prosecutors said, and in it he identified Love as the “most influential” person in his life, attending weekly counseling sessions with him. Love even gave Stone’s eulogy following his murder.

Rosewaren read from some email exchanges between Teresa and Love. In them they discussed his murder, specifically how they would kill him with one of his own guns.

“‘One shot to the head would take care of it,’” Rosewaren read from one of Love’s emails.

On the day of the murder, Love sent a message to Teresa on a private, disposable phone the two used to communicate, telling her that the crime had been done at Stone’s insurance office, which Randy shared with his wife.

Prosecutor Tammy Dickinson said Teresa’s lover “was a hitman” and that both of them violated three commandments – adultery, coveting thy neighbor and killing another human being.

“They did it for pure greed – for money and the ability to maintain their fake lives,” Dickinson said. “The woman has no sense of right or wrong.”

Detectives said Stone admitted under oath that she knew she would find him dead when she got to the office that day. In a chilling account, Dickinson described the coldness of the moment. Using Randy’s Glock pistol, Love shot him point-blank in the head, taking the pistol with him and destroying it.

When Teresa got to the office, Dickinson said, she took her time in contacting police.

“She steps over his dead body to the phone,” Dickinson said. “Did she dial 911? No. She calls her mother first and told her Randy had been shot. She waits seven to eight minutes and then calls 911 and tells the dispatcher the first of many lies – that Randy Stone is bleeding and injured in some way.”

Teresa also lied about the gun when questioned about it, knowing  that Love had taken and destroyed it, Dickinson said. She lied to police about the 10-year love affair even after police found a love letter written by Love to Teresa thrown away in the trash can next to her desk in the office she shared with her husband.

The letter was a happy birthday letter sent by Love talking about his love for her and how he wanted to spend his life with her – key evidence because it led police to the conclusion that it wasn’t a random killing.

Following the murder, Love resigned as pastor at New Hope Baptist and fled to South Carolina, where he was later arrested and returned to Jackson County. He had been working as a truck driver when he was arrested on charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

Prosecutors also said that Love had also planned to kill his wife and stage her death as an automobile accident. Teresa also had taken out a large life insurance policy on her husband a number of years before the killing, prosecutors said, and had expected a large payment following his death.

But Randy changed the policy to give the bulk of that money to their children.

“And once she finds out her plan is unraveling, that she’s not getting the money, does she tell the truth?” Dickinson said. “No. Randy Stone didn’t trust her.”

Dickinson continued.

“She said she wants mercy – but give her the same amount of mercy she gave Randy Stone,” she said. “Show her that much mercy, which is none.”

Roldan, who said sentencing was the most difficult responsibility of his job, told Teresa that her husband “should have been the most important part of your life” before he sentenced her to eight years.

As part of Stone’s plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to limit the prison recommendation to 10 years, though the usual punishment for a conviction on conspiracy to commit murder is five to 15 years.

Shelly Bell, Randy Stone’s niece, asked the court for the maximum sentence of 10 years.

“He was loved by everyone,” Bell said. “She robbed her children of their father.”