Galloway sentenced to life in prison after jury rejects death sentence

Glen Galloway will spend the rest of his life and then some behind bars.

The double-killer was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole, plus an additional 171.5 years.

A jury took the death penalty off the table earlier in the week. Galloway is only the second person in 10 years in an El Paso County courtroom to face that possibility.

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A jury rejected the death penalty as a sentence for Glen Galloway, one week after he was found guilty of two murders.

The jury announced the decision on Tuesday, meaning Galloway will be sentenced to life in prison without parole for his crimes.

Last Tuesday, the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder for killing his ex-girlfriend, Janice Nam, in May 2016. They also found him guilty of second-degree murder for shooting a friend to death, Marcus Anderson, just a day before killing his ex.

Those murders happened five months before cutting off his ankle monitor to avoid being sentenced for stalking Nam.

“Janice Nam did everything she could to get him out of her life," said 4th Judicial District Attorney Dan May after the jury's decision. "She had broken up with him and he couldn’t take no for an answer. She got a restraining order and he went right through that. She called the police when he was stalking her. We brought charges. He was convicted, and what does he do? He doesn’t show up for sentencing and again is out to get her.”

The district attorney says while he is disappointed in the decision, he respects the jury.

“In terms of making the decision, seeking the death penalty, this is one quite frankly, if you saw him, he had absolutely zero remorse,” said May. "I think the evidence would show that if he had the opportunity to do that same murder today, he probably would.”

May also added to Galloway's lack of remorse attitude by describing how the man acted in court.

“Total disrespect for the court," May said. "He could have worn a suit to court every day. He chose to wear orange. He refused to stand for the judge, is my understanding. He called the judge some names that I can’t say on camera. He certainly said the same thing about some of my prosecutors.”

May continued, “He threw the laptop. At the time, everyone thought it was at the court reporter because it just barely missed her. I guess he clarified he was actually throwing it at the judge and that was his attitude throughout this trial and quite frankly, the last few years in terms of his behavior and character traits that came out.”

The families had no comment Tuesday and neither did Galloway's attorneys.

Galloway's official sentencing will take place on Thursday, but because of the law, the decision is already made that he will serve life in prison.

“I’m very proud of our prosecution team here," May said. "They have put in a number of hours in this case. They did a marvelous job and I actually think the judge did a marvelous job in this case.”

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The first phase of sentencing concluded late Wednesday morning with jurors agreeing that the prosecution proved three of the four aggravating factors:

-The jury agreed it was proven Glen Galloway committed first-degree burglary when he broke into his ex-girlfriend Janice Nam's home and killed her.

-They agreed he killed Nam to prevent prosecution (ie. to prevent a stalking conviction).

-They agreed he intentionally killed more than one person during more than one criminal episode (along with Nam, Galloway also killed Marcus Anderson).

The the second half of the day, the defense moved into phase two of sentencing to present its evidence. That phase will likely last through Friday.

At stake is a possible death sentence for Galloway, though due to jurors rejecting a first-degree murder verdict on the Anderson killing charge, a death sentence is an uphill battle for the prosecution.

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The jury decided Glen Galloway is guilty of first-degree murder, meaning he could still face the death penalty in the sentencing phase of a double-murder trial.

The jury found Galloway guilty on Tuesday of both first-degree and second-degree murder in two May 2016 deadly shootings.

The sentencing phase started at about 2:45 p.m. Soon after, Galloway requested a conflict hearing, where the judge had the public leave the courtroom.

The first phase of sentencing began with testimony. The jury was then sent home for the day as defense attornies requesting changes on juror instructions. The sentencing is scheduled to resume on Wednesday morning.

Galloway will either see life in prison without parole or the death penalty.

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The jury for the Glen Galloway death penalty case will have three days off before they come together again to try and decide a verdict.

The jury was sent home Thursday and is scheduled to come back on Monday to continue deliberations.

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The fate of Glen Galloway, the first El Paso County defendant in 10 years to face a possible death sentence, is now in the hands of jurors.

After three hours of closing arguments, jurors are now deliberating the verdict.

11 News reporter Spencer Wilson, who was in court for closings Wednesday, says a verdict is expected back on Thursday.

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A trial that began with the defendant hurling a laptop across the courtroom had more drama Wednesday to kick off closing arguments.

Glen Galloway's attorneys are lashing out at the judge presiding over the case, claiming he has undermined their case and denied their client his right to a fair trial.

In a decision earlier this week, the judge ruled Galloway's attorneys could not argue self-defense in the closings, citing insufficient evidence for the claim. Public defender Kristen Nelson went so far as to demand the judge recuse himself for the decision, which she claimed went against Galloway's rights.

In the same ruling, 4th Judicial District Judge Gregory Werner accused the defense team of stall tactics throughout the trial.

The verbal scuffle came just before closings were scheduled to start. The jury was not in the room.

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El Paso County's first death penalty trial in a decade is wrapping up.

Closing arguments in the trial of

began at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Galloway is accused of murdering an acquaintance, Marcus Anderson, then driving Anderson's truck to the home of former love Janice Nam and killing her. Court documents say it took Galloway less than a minute to smash his way into Nam's home with a hammer, beat her and shoot her.

Galloway's trial began dramatically, with the defendant chucking a laptop across the courtroom and narrowly missing a court reporter. Since then, he's been calmer but has still shown defiance in more subtle ways, said Lance Benzel, a reporter with 11 News' partner The Gazette who has been in the courtroom for the entire trial.

"He has refused to dress up for the trial, so he’s wearing his El Paso County jail jumpsuit. He is refusing to stand for the jury when the jury is brought into the courtroom, or when it leaves he is not standing for the judge. ... There are signs that might be interpreted as disrespect toward the process, but apart from those there haven't been further outbursts since the laptop was thrown," Benzel told 11 News.

Galloway also refused to take the stand. Benzel says Galloway only wanted to address allegations about one of the two deadly shootings and was told by the judge that wouldn't be happening.

"The judge in this case ... ruled that if he decided to take the stand, he would be forced to face questions about all the allegations facing him," Benzel said.

Wednesday, each side will be given 90 minutes to make their final case to the jury. Benzel told 11 News what he expects to hear.

"We're going to be looking for the prosecution to emphasize all the steps that Mr. Galloway’s ex-girlfriend took to try and protect herself. She sought protection orders, she complained about threats she received at work. Prosecutors say none of the measures that she pursued were effective. Nothing prevented Galloway from seeking revenge against her and that is something that the prosecution will emphasize.

"The defense says that Galloway does not have the culpable mental state to be guilty of first-degree murder for either of the two fatal shootings. They say that the first shooting was in self-defense when the victim Marcus Anderson stole Galloway's gun and threatened him with it, and they say that following that episode Galloway followed a mental break, in which he then drove to the home of his ex-girlfriend and shot her while she was in her bed."

Benzel said the one thing both sides do agree on is Galloway committed the murders.

"There really is no doubt that Mr. Galloway committed these shootings -- in fact, the defense admits that he did both shootings. They just say that those killings do not rise to the level of first-degree murder.”

If Galloway is found guilty, there will be a sentencing phase, in which the defense and prosecution will each make a case for what the sentence should be.

The last time El Paso County had the death penalty on the table, the defendant

and took a life sentence in prison instead.