HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Hutchinson man who is serving a life sentence for the 1978 murder of his wife had his sentence upheld by the Kansas Supreme Court.
Phillip Parks filed the motion in 2019 claiming his sentence was illegal because of how the guidelines were changed between the time he committed the crime and the time he was sentenced.
But the high court ruled that the defendant’s sentence was correct and was in line with sentencing guidelines at the time.
Parks was convicted of killing Rachel Parks in 1997 after pleading no contest. The discovery of Parks' crime in Hutchinson came 19 years after it happened when he was convicted of the attempted murder of his new wife in New Mexico. At that time, Parks told his wife he would have to kill her just like he killed Rachel.
Parks had a long fight through the appeals court system to withdraw his plea deal, which was denied by the state and Supreme Court.