LAWTON, Okla., May 20 (UPI) -- An Oklahoma jury has recommended the convicted killer of a state trooper receive the death penalty.
Ricky Ray Malone will face formal sentencing June 16 for the murder of Trooper Nikky Joe Green, the Oklahoman reported Friday. The jury recommended death Thursday after convicting Malone of first-degree murder.
Green, 35, was shot in the back of the head Dec. 26, 2002 as he begged for mercy, prosecutors said. He had stopped to check a parked car and found a portable methamphetamine lab.
Linda Green, the trooper's widow, said after the trial she was relieved.
"Obviously, it doesn't bring Nik back to us. Nik did the right things in his life. And the jury did the right thing today," she said.
Colleen Malone, the killer's wife, said the sentence was hard to hear.
"This is like a bad nightmare that I've never woke up from," she said.
