Sheepshearer stabs fiancé to death at ranch after drunken row and claiming abuse
A sheep shearer stabbed her fiancé to death near a camper trailer on a ranch where the two had been working after a drunken row - and claimed he had been abusive. She was said to have proclaimed via text, "I'm about to stab this c**t," then plunged an 8-inch (20cm) blade into his chest.
Andrew Moore was killed on February 20 after the couple had been engaged in several weeks of arguments, during which time Moore reportedly cheated on her, prompting her angry and deadly action. In November, a jury found the 31-year-old guilty of manslaughter, opting to sentence her for that instead of second-degree murder, which carries a much higher sentence. The former has a sentence not to exceed 20 years, while the latter carries 20 years to life. The jury could have also acquitted her, but they found her guilty, stating that she did not, in fact, act in self-defence as she claimed.
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Andrew Moore died after the knife was plunged 8 inches into his chest through a thick coat and jackets (givealittle)Sullivan claimed that her fiancé had been abusive and that he was always rude to her, which the jury considered, but ultimately decided that wasn't the case on the night when, in the "sudden heat of passion," she grabbed a knife and stabbed him to death. His last words were, according to testimony: "Why did you do that, Mons?" or "What the f**k, Mons?"
Prosecutor John Bowers said in his rebuttal and closing statements that such words undermined the woman's self-defence argument, as he argued that no one would say such a thing if they had any clue why they had just been attacked, according to Cowboy State Daily.
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"He had no idea why she’d just killed him. Because he was not attacking her," Bowers said. Lincoln County Attorney Spencer Allred emphasised that point and said that the force with which Moore had been stabbed also rules out self-defence.
New Zealander Sullivan had given a statement to Lincoln County Sheriff's Detective Jody Gardner shortly after the slaying in Wyoming, while the former was in the hospital being treated for deadly self-inflicted wounds — she had allegedly tried to kill herself after killing her fiancé. Sullivan allegedly confessed in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she was being treated, adding that the blade went through Moore's thick Carhart coat, two jackets and was still buried 8 inches deep in his chest.
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The couple was allegedly in a rocky period in their relationship and had been fighting incessantly (Facebook)"That's extreme force, folks. A great amount of force was used to put this knife into his chest," Allred said. Sullivan had allegedly been angered after Moore was seen "flirting" with other campers while having beers in the "boys' camper" that fateful night. He had poured his drink in a flirtatious way over one of Sullivan's friends, who later went to comfort her in her own camper.
It didn't work, Cowboy State Daily reported, and at around 6.30am, after much brooding, Sullivan reportedly went to confront her fiancé, at which point the other men in the trailer told her to "f**k off." That's when she texted the friend, who was asleep in Sullivan's trailer, that she was "about to stab this c**t."
The fighting migrated back to Sullivan's trailer, where the friend was still sleeping, and it woke her up. Moore had allegedly been verbally abusing Sullivan the entire time, and then she hit him, which was reportedly the point when she stabbed him. The friend then looked out the window to see Moore bleeding profusely and fled.
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Sullivan allegedly texted a friend and said she was about to 'stab this c**t' after the fight the couple had (Facebook)The jury, which consisted of nine men and three women, ultimately chose to convict her of voluntary manslaughter, which means that she acted "upon a sudden heat of passion" but did not do so with malice. If she had, she would have been convicted of second-degree murder.
At a later sentencing hearing, Sullivan was sentenced to 12 to 17 years in prison, the Daily Mail reported. Her defence team had pushed for her to be acquitted, stating that she was actively being abused and had been forced to choose between her own life and Moore's, which was "unfair." The interview with law enforcement that took place at the hospital also occurred when she was in an ashamed and suicidal state of mind, defenders argued.
Lincoln County, Wyoming, and Kemmerer, where the stabbing took place, are in the southwest of the state and a little over 130 miles (209km) northeast of Salt Lake City, Utah.
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