Man Gets Life Sentence in Beating, Burning Death
Posted/updated on: October 31, 2013 at 12:47 pmGILMER A capital murder defendant has pleaded guilty and begins serving a life sentence without parole for the December kidnapping and killing of a Longview man. The Longview News-Journal reports Daniel Paul Joness sentence was part of a plea agreement accepted in Upshur Countys 115th District Court. Investigators have said Jones, along with Sarah Haslam of Longview and Andrew Norwine of Arlington, robbed Ronnie Joe Gammage, 27, and later kidnapped and beat him before slicing his throat and setting him on fire. Haslam and Norwine remain in the Upshur County Jail awaiting trial. Gammages body was found December 19 in rural Upshur County after his mother reported him missing December 8. Jones was facing the death penalty for his role in Gammages death.