Life Without Parole

Glenna Duram just before sentencing was handed down. She is flanked by attorneys Rick Prysock (l) and Mark Miller (r). In the background is Sheriff Bob Mendham

Glenna Duram sentenced for murder of Martin Duram
By Ken DeLaat
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 It was just past 9:30am Monday morning when Glenna Duram was brought to the courtroom and unlike the outfits she wore earlier this summer, on this day she was dressed in jailhouse orange. She took her seat at the defense table flanked by her attorneys, Mark Miller and Rick Prysock and waited to hear the inevitable decisions that would be coming from the bench

 Seated in the courtroom were many of the same people who spent a week and a half attending the trial. Most continued to stay on as the 12 member jury deliberated for 9 hours over 2 days before finding Ms. Duram guilty on both counts, Murder in the First Degree and the Felony Firearms charge.

 On one side were the victim’s family relatives and friends who had expressed relief at the time of the verdict and were now ready to see this final step in the process that began with Ms. Duram’s arrest for the murder that occurred over two years prior.

 Across the aisle sat a handful of  friends and family of Glenna Duram, the woman who had been found guilty of shooting her husband to death before turning the gun on herself.

 The Honorable Judge H. Kevin Drake took his seat on the bench and after a brief interaction with the attorneys for Ms. Duram, and Prosecuting Attorney Ellsworth Stay, delivered the mandatory sentences for her crimes, Life imprisonment without parole for the murder charge and 2 years for the felony firearms conviction.

 While Glenna Duram declined an invitation to speak, Lillian Duram the victim’s Mother delivered a stinging rebuke to the woman who had been her daughter-in-law. She spoke of never getting another chance to talk with her son while Glenna Duram would still be able to see her family then spoke of the way she had sat through the trial expressing little emotion.

 “How cold,” she said, fighting back tears.

 The conviction appears to be heading for an appeal as Mr. Miller asked for the requisite paperwork from the court.


 Articles pertaining to this trial can be found in the July archives of this section