A southeast Missouri man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for strangling his mother with a dog leash and burning a car with her body and two dogs inside in 2013.
Twenty-nine-year-old Neil Howland Jr. also was sentenced Friday to four years each on five other charges, for a total sentence of 120 years.
The Southeast Missourian reports that during the sentencing hearing, a judge ordered deputies to duct tape Howland’s mouth closed.
A judge sentenced a Scott City man Neil Howland Jr. Friday to life in prison without parole for strangling his mother with a braided dog leash
The horrific murder happened in 2013. The killer’s victim and mother, Cynthia Canoy, is shown before her death
These two dogs were also inside the car that Howland Jr. burned with Canoy’s body inside
The order came after he would not stop interrupting the victim’s husband, who was making a victim impact statement.
Howland was convicted of killing his mother, Cynthia Canoy, in August 2013 at her Scott City home.
He then put her body and her two pet dogs into a car, drove into a cornfield and burned the vehicle.
The son admitted to killing his mother just three days after the horrific murder, but later while on trial said the ‘confession was a lie,’ according to the newspaper.
Howland Jr. (pictured on Twitter) also was sentenced by Judge Fred Copeland to four years each on five other charges, bringing his total sentence to 120 years
Howland Jr.’s girlfriend, Tiffany Warner, described in the rebuttal testimony how he strangled his mom and put the leash around her neck.
Prosecutor Morley Swingle said during the sentencing a more lenient punishment wouldn’t have been appropriate.
‘If you kill your own mother, you will kill anybody,’ Swingle said in the statement.
‘There was not a shred of remorse,’ he added. ‘Justice was achieved here.’
Prosecutor Morley Swingle said during sentencing that ‘justice was served’ and that ‘if you kill your own mother, you will kill anybody’