EVANSVILLE — A judge sentenced Elizabeth Fox-Doerr to serve 90 years in an Indiana prison on Monday for the 2019 killing of her husband, longtime Evansville firefighter Robert F. Doerr II, during an emotional, standing-room-only hearing.
Vanderburgh County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Pigman, who presided over Fox-Doerr's trial in May, handed down the ruling and stated that Fox-Doerr, 52, would serve consecutive, decades-long sentences.
That came as a relief to Doerr’s family, friends and colleagues, who had fought for years to see the firefighters’ assailants prosecuted. As Pigman read Fox-Doerr’s sentence, whispers of “yes,” could be heard in the gallery.
For aiding, inducing or causing murder, a Level 1 felony, Pigman sentenced Fox-Doerr to serve 60 years. For conspiracy to commit murder, also a Level 1 felony, the judge sentenced her to serve 30 years.
Because the court deemed the two offenses to have been separate acts, the sentences will be served one after the other.
Fox-Doerr’s lead defense attorney told Pigman on Monday that given Fox-Doerr's age, any sentence would "effectively be a life sentence."
During a lengthy and contentious trial in May, Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers told jurors that Fox-Doerr enlisted her "lover," 45-year-old Larry Richmond Sr., to carry out the fatal shooting of her husband, Doerr, on Feb. 26, 2019.
Doerr, 51, served with the Evansville Fire Department for 28 years. He died after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds that investigators believe were attributed to a powerful Taurus Judge revolver. Detectives did not recover the murder weapon, according to testimony presented during Fox-Doerr's trial.
"He wore his badge with pride and dignity," former Fire Chief Mike Connelly said at Doerr's funeral . "His legacy of integrity is what the foundation of this department is built upon."
Richmond Sr., who was convicted of a prior murder and released from prison not long before Doerr's killing, stands accused of firing the fatal shots. According to court records, he has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
He is scheduled to go before a jury in November.
During victim impact statements on Monday, Doerr’s friend and fellow firefighter, Larry Wildt, told the court that Fox-Doerr had “turned a lot of people’s lives upside down.”
“I lost my best friend, my go-to if I had a bad day,” Wildt said. “I lost my fishing partner, my bowling partner.” Doerr’s killing was “senseless,” Wildt added.
Wildt's sentiments were echoed from the witness stand by members of Doerr’s family.
Angie Roybal, Doerr’s sister, told Pigman that she suffered from "nightmares" in the aftermath of her brother’s killing. She lamented the fact that Doerr’s father passed away before a trial in his case could be held.
“(Fox-Doerr) robbed my Dad of his last years with his son,” Roybal said. She concluded her statement by recalling Doerr’s memorial service: “I will remember the funeral procession and the community paying its respects.”
Doerr’s daughter, Lindsey Griffin, tearfully recounted on Monday the moment she learned that her father had been shot and killed outside his Evansville home just as he returned from an extra shift at a firehouse.
“I replay that night over and over again,” Griffin said. Fox-Doerr, according to Griffin’s testimony, showed “no emotion” after Doerr’s killing. “It crushed me,” Griffin told Pigman.
Moers, who tried Fox-Doerr alongside veteran prosecutor Stan Levco, told the Courier & Press that she was pleased with the consecutive sentences handed down by the court.
“There are issues with conspiring to do something and then actually taking the next step and committing the murder,” Moers said. “So we’re very happy with the sentencing today. It brings some peace and healing to the family, hopefully. Justice is never really served, because ‘Robby’ Doerr is gone, but we’re happy with our efforts and with the court’s findings.”
After Pigman sentenced Fox-Doerr, she informed the court she would appeal her conviction and sentence. Her lead defense attorney, special public defender Mark Phillips, told Pigman that he would petition the public defender's office to appoint his office to represent Fox-Doerr in her appeal.
During arguments ahead of Fox-Doerr's sentencing, Phillips said that one of the jurors who found Fox-Doerr guilty approached his office after she was convicted, a fairly common practice in criminal legal settings.
The juror, Phillips said, contended that there was “no evidence” that directly showed Fox-Doerr had entered into an agreement with Richmond Sr. to have her husband killed.
During an interview after the hearing, Phillips told the Courier & Press that the juror likely made that remark in response to a question. Regardless, he argued that the state had not proven Fox-Doerr guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and that they would petition the appellate court to hear arguments in her case.
“I was taken aback by the number of years,” Phillips said of Fox-Doerr’s sentence. “And by the idea that it was consecutive. Here’s the thing: in Indiana judges have complete and total discretion to make those decisions. I was surprised.”
Houston Harwood can be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Judge sentences Elizabeth Fox-Doerr for murder-conspiracy plot to kill husband
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