BRADENTON — The second of two men convicted of killing 74-year-old Janice Fore in her Northwest Bradenton home will spend the rest of his life in prison for her murder.
Circuit Judge Diana Moreland today sentenced Otis C. Mack III, 21, to life in prison without the possibility of parole in Fore’s May 21, 2008, killing. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder and burglary in September.
In April, Moreland also sentenced another man, 21-year-old Marcos Herrera, to life in prison on a first-degree murder charge in Fore’s murder. His case remains on appeal.
Herrera and Mack had separate trials that both had the same outcome — a jury finding they broke into Fore’s home and attacked her in her bedroom. Herrera and Mack shoved a sock in Fore’s mouth, wrapped duct tape around it, and stole a computer from her home.
Manatee County Sheriff’s Office investigators later discovered Herrera had rented a room across the street from Fore’s home for nearly five months prior to the killing.
Doctors testified in both trials that Fore, who suffered from a lung disease, suffocated from the stress of the attack and the gagging affecting her breathing.
Defense attorneys admitted to jurors that Mack had been with Herrera during the burglary, but argued that he was scared of Herrera and an unwilling participant. But jurors agreed with prosecutors who pointed to Mack’s fingerprints on duct tape used to bind Fore as proof he took part in the violence.
At sentencing Thursday, neither family members of Fore nor Mack attended the hearing, as a life sentence was mandatory upon his conviction. Moreland also sentenced Mack to 15 years on the burglary charge, but said nothing else of the case.
Email Story
Printer Friendly 
Quick Job Search