Johnny Wright was sentenced to 30 years in prison Monday for the 1976 murder of former MU student Becky Doisy.
During the hearing, 13th Circuit Court Judge Gary Oxenhandler heard a victim impact statement from Becky’s younger sister, Kathy Doisy.
“Everything changed after Becky’s death,” Kathy Doisy said. “There was a gap, a hole that we couldn’t fill. That’s when I went from expecting the best in life to bracing for the worst.”
Kathy Doisy spoke about her family’s struggle to move on, her own survivor’s guilt and her sister’s character.
“She and her children would have made great contributions to the world, but we will never know, because she was also pretty enough to attract the attention of this vicious sociopath sitting in front of you,” Kathy Doisy said. “If you spend the rest of your life in jail, you and your family will not suffer a percentage of the misery we did.”
Becky Doisy was last seen with Wright on Aug. 5, 1976. Shortly after she was reported missing, Wright left Columbia, staying briefly in St. Louis and later moving to Georgia under an assumed identity.
“What makes life wonderful are the relationships you form with other people, and Becky was deprived of that because this man took her life,” Boone County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Richard Hicks said. “Mr. Wright got to choose women to love, live with and have children with. He lived a full life.”
A warrant for his arrest was issued in 1985. In 2009, Wright requested a background check under his original name and was arrested on the outstanding warrant. The jury found Wright guilty of second-degree murder In January after about six hours of deliberation.
The option for a life sentence was not legally introduced until 1978, two years after Becky Doisy’s disappearance. Hicks said he was instead seeking a sentence of 30 years.
“Any sentence less than 30 years would be showing Mr. Wright mercy that he doesn’t deserve,” Hicks said during the hearing. “The most serious crime that can be committed is to take someone else’s life.”
Wright’s attorney Cleveland Tyson argued Wright did not leave the state to avoid prosecution, but rather to avoid death threats and start his life over.
“If you look at the past 30 years, there’s nothing to suggest that he had any contact or problems with the law,” Tyson said. “The sentencing assessment report recommends 15 years, and I believe that is a more appropriate sentence. I think that reflects the changed man and reflects the maturity and what type of person Mr. Wright is today. ”
After hearing from Kathy Doisy and both attorneys, Oxenhandler handed down a sentence of 30 years in the Department of Corrections.
“He deserves to end his life in prison,” Hicks said. “As harsh as it sounds, he deserves it because of the life he took. The sins of his youth caught up to him.”
