(PatriotWise.com) — The man who in 2019 shot and killed a Louisiana police captain pleaded guilty last week and was sentenced to life in prison without parole, 4WWL reported.
Mark Spicer, 25, pleaded guilty to five charges including first-degree murder for fatally shooting Mandeville Police Captain Vincent Liberto Jr. after a car chase on Highway 190.
Spicer was driving a stolen car that fled from a police vehicle in Mandeville on September 20, 2019. When a police chase ensued, Captain Liberto joined the pursuit in his unmarked vehicle. Spicer refused to pull over and eventually crashed.
According to prosecutors, after crashing the vehicle, Spicer emerged pointing a stolen handgun at Liberto’s vehicle, firing several shots through the passenger-side window, killing Liberto.
After state District Judge Ellen Creel sentenced him to life without the possibility of parole, Spicer said in a barely audible voice, “I’m sorry for the situation,” the Times-Picayune reported.
The police captain’s widow Tracey Liberto described the pain her family has endured in the four years since her husband’s death as “immeasurable.” She told reporters that she only reluctantly agreed to the plea deal following several delays to bring closure to the issue.
Former Mandeville Police Chief Gerald Sticker was among the friends, family, and fellow officers who attended last week’s sentencing to support Captain Liberto’s family.
He told reporters that one of the “hardest things” he had ever done as chief was going to Tracey Liberto’s place of work to tell her of her husband’s murder.
As part of the agreement with prosecutors, Spicer pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, possession of a stolen firearm, aggravated flight from an officer, and obstruction of justice.
Vincent Liberto, the father of seven, was a Marine combat veteran who served in Desert Storm before spending nearly 30 years as a police officer.
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