Delaware man gets life sentence for bludgeoning sleeping girlfriend to death over suspicion she was talking to her ex
A man from Delaware has been sentenced to life plus 25 years for bludgeoning his sleeping girlfriend to death over suspicion that she was talking to her former boyfriend.
The attorney general's office on Friday last week stated that the man, identified as 45-year-old Steven Pierce, was sentenced to life behind bars for the murder of Heather Stamper in 2016. Reports state that Pierce was convicted last month of first-degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony.
The AG's office said that Pierce, in July 2016, bludgeoned Stamper to death as she slept in her bedroom. "Investigators found Pierce became jealous believing that Stamper, 31, of Delaware City, was speaking to an old boyfriend," they stated.
Reports state that the couple had broken up right before the murder because of the same accusation Pierce made against Stamper. According to Delaware Online, the pair was last seen together on a street on the night of the murder before Stamper went home.
Pierce, enraged because of the suspicion, reportedly went to a friend's home asking for a gun but he wasn't given one. According to the court documents, he was so angry at the time that he tore up his purple flower car seat covers. Pierce reportedly said that he wanted the gun to kill Stamper and went to another friend for a gun and a rosary.
According to a witness, Pierce reportedly told that friend: "This is my last night of freedom. I am going to be a lifer come tomorrow."
Pierce called 911 the next day and said that he had found his girlfriend dead. He also claimed that she had been in a suicidal state, and added that he found her shot with her wrists cut.
According to a Delaware State Police report, the official cause of Stamper's death, however, was blunt force trauma.