Tennessee killer Sean Finnegan was left physically distraught after learning he was being sentenced to death for the sickening murder and torture of a homeless woman.
Finnegan had been found guilty of murdering Jennifer Paxton in 2019 when he appeared in court to learn his punishment yesterday.
When the judge announced his sentence – death by lethal injection – his face paled.
He began to tremble and fidget with his long, greasy gray hair, but said nothing as the sentence was passed.
Paxton’s body remained in a freezer in Finnegan’s bedroom for about eight months after he killed her. He viewed her corpse for sexual pleasure.
Sean Finnegan was left physically distraught upon learning of his fate for his heinous crime.
An Anderson County jury reached a verdict Wednesday, sentencing Finnegan to death by lethal injection for the 2019 murder of Jennifer Paxton.
Finnegan moved the body to a hiding place under his bed before police came looking for it in early August 2020.
Paxton was the ideal victim for Finnegan, prosecutor Kevin Allen told jurors Friday.
She was a homeless drug addict who sold her body to make money.
Investigators believe Paxton was strangled to death in December 2019. Finnegan’s partner, Rebecca Dishman, 26, told officers Finnegan killed Paxton by strangling her with a rope for an extended period of time, taking breaks and pausing for smoke breaks.
Dishman has already pleaded guilty to murder.
The judge announced the sentence, indicating that Finnegan would be transferred to the state penitentiary in Nashville to be executed by lethal injection.
Following the verdict, Paxton’s family was seen crying and hugging each other in the courtroom. Finnegan shook his attorney’s hand and thanked them for their work on the case after everyone left.
Finnegan’s partner, Rebecca Dishman, 26, told officers Finnegan killed Jennifer Paxton, 36 (pictured), by strangling her with a rope over an extended period, taking breaks and smoking. He then kept her body in a freezer for eight months and examined it for sexual pleasure.
“Sean Finnegan will never be free again,” defense attorney Forrest Wallace told Anderson County jurors Aug. 20 at the start of his sentencing hearing. He noted that the minimum sentence for first-degree murder was 51 years and Finnegan was already 56. “Do the math,” he said.
Prosecutor Kevin Allen responded, arguing for the death penalty: “Sean Finnegan should be given the same leniency that (he and Rebecca Dishman) gave Jennifer Paxton.”
Finnegan remained impassive throughout the case until the verdict was announced, the local ABC affiliate said. WATER reported.
The only other occasion he showed emotion was when his brother’s ex-wife, Roxanne Mundy, testified on Finnegan’s behalf, detailing her abusive childhood, where she was the victim of physical and sexual violence.
Before Finnegan’s sentencing, Tennessee had 45 people on death row.
However, in June 2022, Governor Bill Lee instituted a moratorium on executions, pending the completion of an independent investigation into the state’s lethal injection methods.