Through tears, the daughter of a slain Springfield couple urged a judge to give the maximum sentence to the man who admitted to killing her parents.
“I’ll miss their advice. I’ll miss their laughs. I’ll miss having the opportunity to tell them I love them,” Jessica Tyrrell-Murray said.
Mark E. Porter, 54, pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing Gary and Jan Tyrrell in their Springfield home in 2014.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and agreed to two consecutive life sentences. Porter will avoid the death penalty as part of the agreement.
Judge Thomas Mountjoy gave the maximum sentence — after prosecutors agreed to reduce the charges from first-degree murder to second.
The judge said even that wasn’t punishment enough.
“There is nothing that would be enough, besides undoing the terrible things that have happened,” he said.
The judge added that he would not, if asked by parole officials, say Porter is a good candidate to be released once he’s served the minimum term of his sentence. Because of his age, Porter would be eligible for release at age 82.
“There will never be a day that I say ‘yes,’” Mountjoy said.
Documents show Porter and Gary Tyrrell were believed by many to be “best friends.” They had been longtime professional associates, with Tyrrell working for Porter when he was a school superintendent in Mountain Grove.
Police detectives have said Porter had “gambling issues” and had asked his longtime friend and co-worker Gary Tyrrell for a $250,000 loan shortly before the Tyrrells were found dead. Gary Tyrrell traded in valuable coins and had many high-end items in the home, according to police.
The Tyrrells’ bodies were found in their Greenbrier Avenue home on May 1. Gary was shot twice, and Jan was bludgeoned to death with a rare engraved walrus tusk.
Police say Porter sold $18,000 worth of silver coins to a local shop a day after the Tyrrells’ bodies were discovered.
Police followed Porter for several weeks after the Tyrrells’ bodies were found, in an attempt to get DNA discreetly. An officer ultimately found a coffee cup Porter had left behind at a “quick lube” business to get the necessary evidence to file charges.
Prosecutor Dan Patterson said he’s happy with the agreement because it accomplishes his department’s ultimate goal in much less time than a trial would have.
“Our goal from the beginning was that he spend life in prison,” Patterson said. “And he’ll likely die in prison.”
He said by going the route of a guilty plea, the case can end sooner and there won’t be any chance Porter would be found not guilty, as there would be with a trial.
Tyrrell-Murray told the judge what great people her parents were. They paid for meals of children they didn’t know, knitted hats for cancer patients and volunteered to help elderly people in the community.
Tyrrell-Murray said she found, after her parents’ deaths, receipts from Mountain Grove Elementary School.
“My mom had been paying for milk for kids she didn’t know,” she said.
The court also heard from Gary Tyrrell’s brother Larry Tyrrell, who told of the close, decades-long relationship with his brother.
He spoke about growing up on the farm in Texas County together, of working together in schools, and talking about politics.
“He was a great man,” Larry Tyrrell said. “He was a better man than I was.”
Other family members spoke, often telling of the good deeds and kind personalities of Gary and Jan Tyrrell.
During the sentencing, Judge Mountjoy said he believed the Tyrrells’ legacy would live on.
When he spoke to Porter, he said: “Everything they were, you’re not.”
Patterson, the prosecutor, released a statement after the hearing.
“I am grateful to the Springfield Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit and Detective Chris Barb for their diligent work in seeking justice for the family of Jan and Gary Tyrrell and to the Mid-State’s Organized Crime Information Center for its assistance in the investigation of this case.”
What is second-degree murder?
According to state law, second-degree murder occurs when someone “knowingly causes the death of another person or, with the purpose of causing serious physical injury to another person, causes the death of another person.”
The crime is a Class A felony, meaning it carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, and a maximum of 30 years — which is considered a life sentence in Missouri.
Because it is considered a violent crime, someone who is convicted of second-degree murder must serve 85 percent of his or her sentence. Once the person reaches the age of 70, he or she must have served at least 40 percent of the sentence.
