A Jones County Circuit Court jury convicted former Laurel physician Malachy DeHenre of manslaughter following a 45-minute deliberation Wednesday. The jury received the case at 3:05 p.m. and returned with a unanimous verdict at 3:50 p.m.
Circuit Judge Billy Joe Landrum ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set DeHenre’s sentencing for Thursday, March 13. A conviction on manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
DeHenre was convicted of killing his wife, Dr. Nyasah DeHenre, at their Laurel residence on Jan. 23, 1997. DeHenre’s first trial ten years ago ended in a mistrial, with an 11-1 vote by the jury for acquittal.
In a surprise move, DeHenre took the stand in his own defense Wednesday morning, testifying for nearly an hour. He said the night his wife came from Zimbabwe, where she had attended her father’s funeral, he saw a reflection of something metallic out of the corner of his eye, saw his wife had a gun and grabbed her arm in an effort to take the gun from her. He said he was unable to do so, and heard a loud sound and she was on the floor.
DeHenre also testified that he and his wife were divorced in 1990, and that they had an arrangement to stay together for the sake of their children.
DeHenre testified that he kept the gun in the couch where he slept in the living room, and that was where she got the gun. He said she shot herself while she was seated on the love seat. The victim was shot once in the forehead, near the left temple. The first thing he noticed about her after she was shot was that “she had blood coming from her nose ... I saw blood on her head and I knew there was a big problem. I laid her down and put her feet up,” he said.
After that, he said he got the cordless phone and pressed the redial button, because his wife had just been on the phone. He said his wife’s mother in Zimbabwe answered and he asked her what they had talked about, and that she hung up on.
Then he said he called 9-1-1 and asked for an ambulance. Prosecutor J. Ronald Parrish, referring to testimony from investigators and emergency personnel on Tuesday, asked DeHenre if he put the magazine across his wife’s stomach. “I do not recall a magazine,” he said. After calling 9-1-1, he said he went to the bedroom and changed clothes in order to go to the hospital with his wife in the ambulance.
When he came back into the living room, he said his wife “was moaning. I laid her down on the pillow. Her legs were still on the floor. She was in an awkward position. My right hand was full of blood. The gun was on the floor. I heard a siren and went outside to wave them in.”
Parrish asked DeHenre, “Did you intentionally shoot her?” DeHenre replied, “No I didn’t. The gun was never in my hands, never. I never held this gun.”
Parrish asked DeHenre if he went to the bathroom at any time after his wife was shot, and he said he did not. On re-direct, former sheriff’s investigator Mackie Knight said DeHenre did go to the bathroom by himself after deputies and emergency personnel arrived.
Parrish talked about the conviction outside the courtroom after the verdict was announced. “This man is one of the most despicable that I have ever prosecuted in this county,” he said. “He has committed innumerable crimes that he hasn’t been convicted for. Of course, we were only concerned about one today.”
According to a Dec. 20, 2004, LifeSiteNews.com article, DeHenre had his license to practice medicine in Alabama suspended for malpractice after an Alabama woman died as a result of an abortion DeHenre performed on her there in 2003.
Dr. Michael Baden, nationally known forensic pathologist, testified as an expert witness for the prosecution Tuesday. He was paid $14,000 to testify.
“Every penny that I had to pay for an expert witness came out of money that I’ve seized from drug dealers in this county, and hasn’t cost the taxpayers a penny,” Parrish said.
DeHenre remains in jail following the conviction.
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