WEATHERFORD -- Moments after Jeffrey Maxwell was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday, Lois Pearson, whom he kidnapped and tortured for 12 days last year, looked at him from the witness stand.
"Hell is a real place," Pearson said, reading from notes as she gave her victim impact statement. "It's a miracle that I'm alive. I am so thankful to God for answering my prayers and sparing my life."A Parker County jury deliberated less than an hour Wednesday afternoon before recommending that Maxwell get the maximum sentences of life in prison on one count of aggravated kidnapping and two counts of aggravated sexual assault.Two of the three sentences must be served consecutively.Maxwell, 59, must serve at least 60 years before he is eligible for parole, a prosecutor said.After the sentencing, Pearson talked to reporters and allowed her identity to be used. Generally, the Star-Telegram does not identify victims of sexual assaults.State District Judge Trey Loftin also ordered that Maxwell’s Corsicana home be forfeited to the state.Maxwell was convicted Tuesday. During Wednesday’s punishment phase, witnesses included three women who said Maxwell sexually assaulted them years ago.Prosecutor Jeff Swain told jurors that Maxwell had a fantasy "bucket list" that included raping and torturing disabled teens, teachers and girls in elevators."He picked on the [Parker County woman] because she was a virgin," Swain said. "And because he thought he could."But James Wilson of Fort Worth, one of Maxwell’s attorneys, told the jury to keep an open mind for punishment."There’s a full range of punishment" options, Wilson said. Maxwell has health problems including a heart condition and diabetes, he said.Defense attorney Richard Alley told Loftin that no witness could be found to speak on Maxwell’s behalf, including his two sons.Previous casesTwo women testified Wednesday that they were molested by Maxwell when they were children. They contacted authorities, but Maxwell was never charged. A third woman said she was raped by Maxwell in 1995 but never contacted police.Former Watauga police Detective Jan Cribbs testified that investigators searched Maxwell’s house in 1987 and found bondage books, handcuffs and clips. The books included Bound, Whipped, Caged School Girls and Bondage for Three Wives.Nothing was said in court about why investigators searched Maxwell’s Watauga house 25 years ago.But according to previous news reports, an officer went there in April 1987 to tell Maxwell that authorities had found his wife on the side of a road in Oklahoma, beaten and with her throat slashed.Maxwell repeatedly asked whether his wife was dead and never asked how she was, the officer reported.Martha Maxwell, then 36, survived and identified her husband as her attacker. A Tarrant County grand jury declined to indict him.Martha Maxwell was last seen in 1992. Maxwell divorced her in 1995. Fort Worth police have said the case remains open.During the investigation in the Parker County case, Maxwell told officers that he didn’t kill his ex-wife.Victim’s testimonyThe 63-year-old woman testified last week and again Wednesday morning. Pearson said she is still in pain from injuries Maxwell inflicted.Maxwell had a plan for her Parker County home, she said."He said, ’The house was going to have to be burned down,’" the woman testified.Her home near Whitt burned to the ground March 3, triggering the search for her that ended at Maxwell’s Corsicana house March 12.Three of her cats died in the fire."I wanted to die as a virgin," Pearson said. "He robbed me of that."But she is trying to forgive Maxwell, she said.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
