A Morgan County woman accepted a plea deal to serve 20 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter on Dec. 17, according to Ocmulgee Circuit District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale.
Karen Lindsey, 58, was arrested May 31 on charges related to the death of her husband, Jack Lindsey, who was 76 years old.
Karen Lindsey was originally charged with felony aggravated assault against a person 65 years of age or older, elder abuse, and concealing the death of another.
Barksdale said he originally wanted to pursue homicide charges and was not satisfied with the severity of the final sentence.
“This was a brutal murder based on the evidence,” Barksdale said. “But the case was undermined by the GBI medical examiner’s office.”
Barksdale said GBI officials said they couldn’t determine with certainty if Lindsey died from injuries sustained in a fall or from being beaten. Lindsey’s blood was tested three times for the presence of alcohol, which would have indicated a possible fall, but no alcohol was ever detected.
Barksdale said he has scheduled a meeting with GBI Director Chris Hosey to discuss some of his concerns about the case.
Barksdale also suggested that the fact that 58-year-old Karen Lindsey accepted the 20-year sentence indicates her guilt.
“She beat Jack to death and left him,” Barksdale said. “She put up a sheet to conceal her crimes, and his body wasn’t discovered until Jack’s son requested a welfare check. Jack’s last couple of days were pretty bad. He didn’t deserve that.”
Barksdale said Karen Lindsey would likely serve at least 65 percent of her sentence (12 years) before being considered for parole.
“We intend to make the parole board understand how bad this crime was,” Barksdale said.
With the risk of an acquittal hanging over the case due to the evidence problems, Barksdale said he decided to offer the plea deal to resolve the case and give closure to Jack Lindsey’s family.