A 71-year-old man charged with fatally shooting three people during a potluck dinner at an Alabama church has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole.
Robert Findlay Smith was handed his punishment on Tuesday, less than a year after he opened fire inside St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Vestavia Hills, a community just southeast of Birmingham. The house of worship was filled with about 25 people, all of them enjoying the “Boomer’s Potluck” when the violence unfolded the afternoon of June 16.
Smith was later indicted in the deaths of Walter “Bart” Rainey, 84, of Irondale; Sarah Yeager, 75, of Pelham; and Jane Pounds, 84, of Hoover. He pleaded guilty this week and waived his right to an appeal, according to AL.com.
“I relive the night of June 16 over and over and over and I probably always will,” said Linda Rainey, whose husband was killed. “My heart tells me the shooter will also relive that night over and over. It was such a senseless, evil act of murder where three people were shot.”
Rainey added that it’s especially painful given that Smith, who had been seated alone at the potluck, started shooting shortly after another parishioner at the event asked if he’d like to join their table.
Because Smith “intentionally murdered two or more persons,” he was charged with capital murder and his only sentencing options were either life without parole or the death penalty, according to a press release from the Jefferson County District Attorneys office.
He was ultimately offered a plea deal that allowed him to escape execution after prosecutors consulted with families of the three victims.