Latest news with #Holdsclaw
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Yahoo
A Gaston County man will go to prison for killing his ailing wife
It didn't take long for a judge to sentence Rickey Holdsclaw to prison. Holdsclaw, 75, was found guilty of shooting and killing his ailing wife, 72-year-old Judy Allred Helms, immediately after his attorney and the prosecutor finished their closing arguments. The moment marked the end of an almost three-day bench trial in front of Superior Court Judge David Phillips. Holdsclaw was charged with voluntary manslaughter in the death of Helms, who he was alleged to have shot March 4, 2021, as she lay sleeping in bed. The case centered around confessions Holdsclaw made to police and dispatchers immediately after the shooting. In one recording, Holdsclaw told a police officer, "She was laid down, covered up when I shot her." Helms had Alzheimer's Disease, and Holdsclaw up until her death had been caring for her around the clock, taking her to medical appointments, administering her medication, feeding her, clothing her and helping to bathe her when necessary. In his 911 call, he talked about this experience. "She has these spells where I have to hold her down," he said, speaking through tears in the call. "She suffers so much when she has one of these spells." Holdsclaw's confessions landed him in jail, initially on a charge of first-degree murder. He said from the witness stand this week that after spending around two months cold and miserable in his jail cell, he wanted to change his account of what happened. For the first time on Tuesday, Holdsclaw said that his wife died by suicide, shooting herself after overhearing him telling a neighbor, Magaly Thalacker, that he intended to send her to a memory care facility. The conversation, according to Holdsclaw, took place in a phone call the night before his wife's death. Thalacker specifically told police in a recorded interview right after the shooting that she had not called Holdsclaw that night. When called to the stand and asked directly about the call on Wednesday, Thalacker was indecisive. She said that she didn't remember whether or not she had called him. Then she said that she thought she recalled checking on him, and that it would have been by phone. Holdsclaw's defense attorney, Rocky Lutz, said in his closing arguments that forensic evidence in the case pointed to suicide. He said that Helms appeared to have been shot at close range, and as an experienced marksman, Holdsclaw wouldn't have killed her that way. He also said that the shot appeared to have been fired upwards at an angle, supporting Holdsclaw's testimony about his wife's death. He said that the state was relying on statements Holdsclaw made while suffering from an injury that eventually caused him to develop sepsis, right after witnessing a traumatic event. Holdsclaw, Lutz said, was protecting his wife. They had "a protective relationship that would be hard to believe, except it was corroborated by the surrounding neighbors, who testified to the numerous sacrifices Rickey would make to keep her safe and away from harm." It was "a marriage or relationship that can only be best described as what we read about or is written in fairy tales," Lutz said. "The undisputed evidence is that Rickey made every effort to protect her, not hurt her." In her closing statements, prosecutor Kristen Northrup accused Holdsclaw of perjury. "Perjury is a crime, and that's what this court heard from Mr. Holdsclaw over the last two days," she said. "Not only did Mr. Holdsclaw shoot and kill his wife, Judy Helms, on March 4, 2021, he tried to make her the scapegoat four years later in this courtroom by claiming that she killed herself. The only reason for that is for him to not be held accountable, and that is shameful." She said he made the decision while incarcerated that he wanted to be a free man. "And now he is risking imprisonment, and that is why, four years later, he came up with this story that's never been told before," she said. "Until yesterday, there was reason to feel sympathy for Mr. Holdsclaw. In the end, after his testimony, this in fact was a murder. This defendant killed his wife, and he did so intentionally." Northrup said that the two most important pieces of evidence were the blue blanket that was covering Helms, which had a bullet hole in it, and Helms' body. She contradicted Lutz's characterization of the forensic evidence, saying that the bullet entered Helms' body through her right breast, not at an angle, but "virtually parallel across her chest," landing in her back. "That is inconsistent with his testimony that she could have shot herself," Northrup said. She also said that Holdsclaw claimed to have checked his wife's pulse, but he had no blood on his hands. "We've heard a lot about him and very little about the woman he killed," she said. In the end, Phillips didn't buy Holdsclaw's new story about what happened. Without pausing to deliberate, he said after the attorneys presented their closing arguments that he did not feel Helms' death was a mercy killing, and he found Holdsclaw guilty of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced him to about five to seven years in prison. Holdsclaw spent 33 months, or almost three years, in prison before his trial. This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston County man to go to prison for shooting ailing wife
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Yahoo
Gaston County man found guilty after flipping story on wife's killing
A Gaston County man who changed his story on the stand was found guilty of killing his wife on Wednesday. Channel 9′s Ken Lemon was the only reporter in court this week for Rickey Holdsclaw's voluntary manslaughter trial. Holdsclaw was originally arrested for first-degree murder after he told police he killed his wife, Judy Helms. Holdsclaw was hurt by his own words. He had confessed several times that he shot his own wife in what prosecutors implied was a seemingly sympathetic mercy killing. Then he testified that his wife, who has Alzheimer's Disease, killed herself. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Gastonia man, 71, charged with first-degree murder after wife shot to death Trial begins for man who says he killed wife because she asked him to Man accused of killing wife changes story, claims she killed herself The judge on Wednesday said that wasn't believable. Holdsclaw, 75, seemed stunned. 'The court finds that the defendant's testimony about suicide is not credible,' Judge David Phillips said. 'This is the hard part,' Holdsclaw said. Hours earlier, he cried on the stand and said he had a tender moment with his wife after the shooting. 'I bent down to her face and I put my face next to her hair, and I said, 'Bye, baby,'' Holdsclaw testified. Right after the shooting at their home in 2021, Holdsclaw called 911 and told dispatchers he killed Helms because her changes due to Alzheimer's made her uncontrollable. He said she always told him she never wanted to go to a nursing home. Holdsclaw even asked officers at the scene and in police interviews to shoot him for killing his wife. Then he took the stand and testified that she shot herself, adding that he lied to protect her image. Judge Phillips said the evidence didn't support that claim, and he also cast doubt on Holdsclaw's previous claim. 'The court is not convinced this is a mercy killing,' Phillips said. Holdsclaw faced a minimum of three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter. The judge ruled in the aggravating range and sentenced him to five to seven years in prison. The judge asked Holdsclaw if he had anything to say for his sentencing. 'Thank you but I don't think it would do any good, your honor,' Holdsclaw said. The deputies escorted him out of court to prepare for his first day in prison. (VIDEO: Judge declares mistrial in Kendal Crank murder trial)
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Yahoo
Man accused of killing wife changes story, claims she killed herself
A man who told police he shot and killed his wife with Alzheimer's Disease is now changing his story, telling a judge that his wife shot herself. Channel 9 Gaston County Reporter Ken Lemon was in court as Rickey Holdsclaw took the stand and made a stunning reversal of his original story. On Monday, prosecutors played an interview between Holdsclaw and police in 2021, after Holdsclaw's wife was shot and killed in their Gaston County home. In that interview, Holdsclaw explained that his wife, Judy Helms, didn't want to be in a nursing home and so he shot her instead. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Gastonia man, 71, charged with first-degree murder after wife shot to death Trial begins for man who says he killed wife because she asked him to On Tuesday, Holdsclaw said he was in the bathroom when he heard a gunshot. Holdsclaw, 75, cried during much of his testimony, then he calmly explained that his wife knew he kept a gun hanging on a holster in their bedroom closer. 'The safety is off, if you need it, all you have to do is pull the trigger. She knew that,' Holdsclaw testified in court on Tuesday. He said when he went to the bathroom on the morning of March 4, 2021, he heard a pop. Then he went to the bedroom to ask his wife, who had been living with Alzheimer's, if she heard it. 'I could see the gun,' Holdsclaw said while crying. He said his wife's memory lapses were so intense that she became uncontrollable, got the gun, got into bed, and shot herself. Holdsclaw told the judge he didn't want her to be known as someone who took her own life, so he told a 911 dispatcher he shot her and confessed during a police interview. 'I made up the quickest and best story I could when I talked to detectives,' Holdsclaw testified. He told the judge his health was already failing. 'Hell, I'm going to die anyway, I might as well take the blame. No one will ever know. I was the only one there,' Holdsclaw said. He said after spending weeks in jail on the initial murder charge, a life-saving surgery, and two days in a coma, he woke up feeling the best he's felt in a long time. He said that changed his perspective. 'And your honor, I knew right then and there I wanted to be a free man again, and I wanted to live,' Holdsclaw said. 'But I also knew I made my own coffin and I went in too deep over my head.' So he decided to speak out publicly on the stand despite previous concerns for his wife's image. 'Nobody would hold her responsible for having Alzheimer's and shooting herself,' Holdsclaw said. He said he later decided no one would blame his wife for how she died. His decision to speak publicly came after prosecutors decided to seek a charge of voluntary manslaughter instead of murder. The trial is on recess so the judge could speak with attorneys in the case. If convicted, Holdsclaw faces a minimum of three years in prison. (VIDEO: Unborn baby killed in shooting at Gaston County hotel, police say)
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Yahoo
'How could I do that to my wife?' Man stands trial in wife's killing
Just before 7 a.m. on March 4, 2021, Ricky Allen Holdsclaw called Gaston County Police and told the dispatcher that he shot his wife in the stomach while she was asleep in bed. Judy Allred Helms was 72 when she died. Holdsclaw, who was arrested for Helms' death at the time, is on trial for voluntary manslaughter. In court Monday, a 911 call presented by the state shed light on the circumstances surrounding Helms' death. Helms, who had Alzheimer's Disease, had a particularly intense episode the day before, Holdsclaw told the dispatcher. He said in the call that Helms retired from a career in healthcare about 17 years prior and had always asked him to never put her in a nursing home. "She has these spells where I have to hold her down," he said through tears at the time. "She suffers so much when she has one of these spells." While trying to restrain her, Holdsclaw said in the call, he pulled a muscle in his stomach which rendered him nearly immobile. Sometime after that episode, Helms wanted to go for a walk by herself and returned home escorted by a neighbor who found her standing in their driveway. Holdsclaw said in the call that Helms shared a chicken pot pie with the neighbor for dinner, took her medicine and went to bed. "(At) about six this morning, I just went crazy and shot her," he said. "How could I do that? How could I do that to my wife? She was my one and only companion." Prosecutors Kristen Northrup and Josh Warner also introduced several pieces of evidence on the first day of trial including the gun allegedly used in the shooting, bedding found at the scene and a deformed jacketed bullet. Rather than face a jury, Holtsclaw is having his case decided by Superior Court Judge David Phillips. This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Details revealed in trial of man who is accused of shooting his wife
Fox Sports
21-03-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Who are the 10 best women's college basketball players of all-time?
The NCAA Tournament is where stars are born and for the women's game, the best players often save their best games for when March rolls around. Most recently, Caitlin Clark dazzled fans and athletes alike with her rare display of scoring, passing and shooting. Where does she rank among the best women's college basketball players of all time? Who are the best of the best? We've rounded up the 10 biggest names. 10 best women's college basketball players of all time 10. Lynette Woodard, Kansas (1978-81) Before Clark's ascension during her time at Iowa, Woodard was the unofficial top scorer in women's college basketball history. She finished her college career with 3,649 points during her four-year career at Kansas. Moreover, she was an All-American in each of her four seasons for the Jayhawks. Overall, she was one of the pioneers of the sport. 9. A'ja Wilson, South Carolina (2015-18) Wilson dominated during her time at South Carolina, eventually finishing with 2,389 career points. She was named an All-American every single year and was able to help guide the Gamecocks to a title in 2016-17. In 2017-18, they came up short in the title hunt, but that was not for a lack of trying on Wilson's part. She was named Player of the Year for her part, averaging 22.6 points per game and leading the nation with 3.2 blocks per game. 8. Candace Parker, Tennessee (2006-08) One of the most famous players on this list during her time in college, Parker was truly a star. She earned the Wooden Award twice, was an All-American in each of three seasons for the Vols and was the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in her last two years in Knoxville. Moreover, the team also captured the national title her last two years, going back-to-back to wrap up her career in college. 7. Brittney Griner, Baylor (2010-13) A dominant force down low, Griner won two Wooden Awards in four seasons at Baylor. She was also named Big 12 Player of the Year three times, was an All-American all four seasons and was also a four-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. She finished her college career with 3,283 points, with her ranking sixth all-time on the NCAA scoring list. 6. Maya Moore, UConn (2008-11) The first UConn star on the list, Moore played four years for the Huskies where she helped lead them to two national titles. During those four years, she collected two Player of the Year awards, was named an All-American four times and was a two-time Wooden Award winner. She finished her senior season with a career-high 22.8 points per game. 5. Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee (1996-99) Holdsclaw was a great scorer during her time with the Vols, averaging over 20 points per game in her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. She also averaged eight rebounds or more in each of those three seasons, making her a threat to score when she had the ball and because she could go get it. Holdsclaw finished her time with Tennessee claiming two straight Player of the Year awards. 4. Cheryl Miller, USC (1983-86) A professional scorer, Miller was a threat all over the court. She finished her career averaging 20 points or more in each of her four seasons, including over 25 points per game in each of her last two seasons. She was also a fierce rebounder, averaging 10 rebounds or more in three straight seasons to finish her career with the Trojans, including 15.8 boards per game for her junior year to pair with 26.8 points per game. 3. Diana Taurasi, UConn (2001-04) One of the most notable UConn players of all time, Taurasi was a three-time champion while playing in Storrs. She finished her career with three All-American selections and two Most Outstanding Player awards for the NCAA Tournament. Those two Most Outstanding Player awards came during her last two years, when UConn went back-to-back before she headed to the WNBA. 2. Caitlin Clark, Iowa (2021-24) The biggest name on the list, and that is saying something. Clark is most notably the leading scorer in the NCAA record books and helped bring Iowa within a game of claiming a national title. She finished her career just short of 4,000 points. Moreover, she was a three-time Big Ten Player of the Year selection, a two-time Naismith Award winner and was a four-time All-American selection. Clark's range and gaudy scoring and assist numbers will leave an imprint on the game forever. 1. Breanna Stewart, UConn (2013-16) The top player on the list, Stewart was a true winner, helping lead UConn to a title in all four of her seasons with the Huskies. She was also named Most Outstanding Player in all four of those title seasons. On top of that, she finished her college career claiming Player of the Year in three consecutive seasons. She was more than just a scorer, though, finishing her senior season leading the nation with 3.4 blocks per game. Honorable mentions: Kelsey Plum , Washington (2014-17) Sabrina Ionescu , Oregon (2017-20) Elena Delle Donne , Delaware (2010-13) Sheryl Swoopes, Texas Tech (1992-93) Rebecca Lobo, UConn (1992-95) Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience Women's College Basketball recommended Get more from Women's College Basketball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
