Posted on 07/03/2003 3:08:00 PM PDT by Theodore R.
'Karaoke killer' pleads guilty, gets life in prison By Lawrence Buser buser@gomemphis.com July 3, 2003
A Memphis man dubbed the "karaoke killer" pleaded guilty Thursday to killing his wife two years ago and was sentenced to life in prison.
Joseph Leroy Crouch Jr. told Criminal Court Judge James Beasley Jr. he wanted to get out of the Shelby County Jail and did not want to put his family through a trial.
Crouch, 61, admitted shooting his wife Betsy Crouch early on June 25, 2001, at their southeast Memphis home as financial problems mounted. They had been married 40 years.
He spent the next 21 months playing golf and singing karaoke in Florida coastal communities until he was captured in March in Daytona Beach Shores, Fla. Crouch told Florida authorities he also was responsible for 40 armed robberies, which he had detailed on papers found in his beach front condo.
— Lawrence Buser: 529-2385
"Joseph Leroy Crouch Jr. ...did not want to put his family through a trial."
Sounds like he was pretty serious about the second part...
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