Man Gets Life in Prison for Fatal Scare

(AP)  A man will spend the rest of his life in prison after he was found guilty in what prosecutors said was a case of scaring a 79-year-old North Carolina grandmother to death.

Multiple media outlets reported a federal jury found 21-year-old Larry Whitfield not guilty of murder Friday in the death of Mary Parnell last year.

But they did find him guilty of causing her death by kidnapping her, and that carries an automatic life sentence.

Prosecutors say Whitfield was looking for somewhere to hide after a failed bank robbery attempt in Gastonia in September 2008 when he broke into Parnell's home.

Authorities say Whitfield never touched the grandmother, but she suffered a heart attack when she saw him, and he didn't call for help.

[denise_1900]

This guy needs a good lawyer.

[bigmo47]

Life in prison for this. Wow, this is a little ridiculous. Yeah he shouldn't have tried to rob the bank and break into this lady's home (definitely prison time for this), but how did he know that she'd had a heart attack and not simply passed out. I understand that killing someone while committing a felony is a capital crime, but if someone dies of natural causes while you are committing it, is that your fault? Who knows whether or not she would have had a heart attack later that day anyway? what if she had a heart attack when the police came later to arrest the guy, whose fault would it have been then? This is BS. So if a teenager is driving wrecklessly and nearly crashes into an elderly person, but barely avoids an accident, should they be charged with murder if the elderly victim has a heart attack? What if the elderly person's spouse has a heart attack when the police break the news of the first ones death, should the charge be double murder? I mean, the teen was committing the crime of wreckless driving. Eventually we will realize that every thing that happens should not be prosecuted.

[bankersvox]

perhaps if the economy was better, poor people would have better chances of getting real jobs, and not forced to rob banks. Seriously, in bad times some people are desperate. Is this what happened here ? Did this man have a family and kids ? What was his history ? i think there is more to the story...

[rbichamp]

You do the crime, then you do the time!
A fair sentence! One that will make others think twice before committing a crime!

[jumkey]

Yeah, this'll make me think twice about trying to rob a bank and then hiding in someone's house because they might die of a heart attack.

How about we give the death penalty for parking tickets? That will show everybody, eh?

End crime for all time.