Las Vegas woman avoids death penalty for role in husband’s 2010 murder

A Las Vegas woman must serve life in prison without the possibility of parole for her role in the murder of her husband, a jury decided Thursday.

The same panel convicted Brandy Stutzman, 37, of first-degree murder and burglary charges in the November 2010 killing.

Jeremiah Merriweather previously pleaded guilty to the same charges in the case. Prosecutors argued that Brandy Stutzman persuaded Merriweather to kill her husband, Joe Stutzman, who was stabbed 15 times and left for dead in his northern valley home.

Prosecutors sought the death penalty in Brandy Stutzman’s case. If she had received capital punishment, she would have been the only woman on death row in Nevada.

Her attorneys argued that Merriweather, who was 19 at the time, killed the 32-year-old victim on his own because he loved her and her son.

“The only thing I can do is to ask you, implore you and beg of you to show mercy to Brandy,” defense attorney Josh Tomsheck told jurors.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Frank Coumou called the killing “horrific” and the “ultimate betrayal of marital vows.”

Prosecutors said Brandy Stutzman orchestrated at least three plans to have her husband killed and often talked about life without him among teenagers she plied with alcohol and drugs while he worked overseas as a military aircraft mechanic.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Fleck told jurors that the murder never would have happened but for Brandy Stutzman.

Merriweather used a knife to kill, the prosecutor said, but “her weapon was much more sinister: manipulation.” Merriweather faces a sentence of 21 years to life in prison.

“Justice has finally been served for Joseph Stutzman and his family,” Fleck said after Brandy Stutzman’s sentence was announced. “We are grateful the jury saw Brandy as the mastermind behind the tragic murder and punished her accordingly.”

Prosecutors said Brandy Stutzman stood to benefit financially from her husband’s death by receiving upward of $213,000 in life insurance.

But defense attorney Lisa Rasmussen said there was no evidence that the woman knew of the insurance policy, which was “a benefit of his employment” as an aircraft mechanic.

Fleck also asked jurors to consider the effect on Stutzman’s son, who was 5 at the time of the killing.

“How many nights did she snuggle next to his body, knowing she was going to engage in a plan to kill his father and destroy his little life?” the prosecutor asked.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.