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Hillsborough man who killed wife, burned body gets life plus 30

 
Family and friends of Gwendolyn Belcher react Wednesday as her husband is sentenced to life in prison for her murder. They had a chance to address the judge before the sentencing.
Family and friends of Gwendolyn Belcher react Wednesday as her husband is sentenced to life in prison for her murder. They had a chance to address the judge before the sentencing.
Published July 30, 2015

TAMPA — Christopher Belcher, 46, was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for killing his wife, Gwendolyn Belcher, three years ago — and then sentenced to an additional 30 years for burning her body.

When the sentence was announced, the victim's family and friends pumped their fists, screamed with joy and cried. There was anger as well.

"I hate you Chris," Khadijah Dowdy, a friend of the victim, told the defendant as he was escorted from the courtroom.

After a four-day trial last week, a jury found Christopher Belcher guilty of charges of second-degree murder and arson on Friday.

Family and friends of Gwendolyn Belcher, a 43-year-old mother, returned to court on Wednesday to address the judge before the sentencing. The victim's daughter, Octavia Hill, said she was satisfied knowing that the defendant received the maximum sentence possible.

"We knew from the get-go that he was the killer," said Hill, 29. "Justice has been served."

But those the victim left behind will never be the same.

"He took something away from us that we can never repair," Hill said.

The couple's 12-year-old daughter, Keishona Belcher, was the last person to see her mother alive on the afternoon of Sept. 15, 2012. She witnessed her father, Christopher Belcher, beating Gwendolyn Belcher in their Seffner home.

Christopher Belcher sent the daughter to her room. The girl later told investigators that, from her bedroom, she heard a confrontation between her mother and father.

After the yelling and fighting stopped, the daughter said her father came into her room and told her to go to sleep. She never saw her mother again, authorities said.

The next day, Gwendolyn Belcher's charred remains were found inside her burned Nissan in Thonotosassa. Christopher Belcher was arrested and charged with assaulting his wife, but he was released weeks later when prosecutors dropped the charges due to a lack of evidence. That drew the ire of the victim's family and friends.

After his release, Christopher Belcher fled the state. But the investigation into his wife's death continued. In November 2012, the U.S. Marshals tracked him to his sister's home in South Carolina and arrested him on an outstanding arrest warrant for his wife's murder.

Assistant State Attorney Matthew Smith emphasized the brutality of the crime to the judge, saying it was "up close and personal."

"It takes a special kind of person — I don't know if that's the right term to use — to kill someone with their bare hands," Smith said.

Defense attorney Christopher Watson asked for a new trial, but the motion was denied.

While sentencing the defendant, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Michelle Sisco said she was struck by the callousness of Christopher Belcher following his wife's death. The morning after the victim disappeared, the defendant was mowing his lawn.

But the judge said that what "broke her heart" was hearing what the couple's 12-year-old daughter had to go through.

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"I cannot imagine what that was like for that poor girl," Sisco said.

Contact Shaker Samman at ssamman@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3394. Follow @shakersamman.