David Webster was sentenced to nearly 24 years in prison Monday for the killing of Diane Chambers in her Winfield home last spring. The sentence was several years longer than attorneys for either side originally had expected was possible.
Judge Nick St. Peter considered written and spoken statements – and even heard testimony from the defendant himself – before giving Webster, 47, the maximum possible sentence of 285 months. Webster was convicted by a jury of 2nd degree intentional murder in January.
This week he was back in a Winfield courtroom to learn that his criminal past – which attorneys for the defense and prosecution had once considered mostly insignificant – was extensive enough to warrant a much stiffer sentence.
Just after his conviction last month, most expected Webster would face a sentence of 13 to 16 years for strangling Chambers to death following an argument the couple had.
But that was before a thorough pre-sentence search of Webster’s background turned up two convictions, a 1985 felony charge for selling pot and a 1982 misdemeanor charge from Winfield municipal court, that pushed Webster’s criminal history score up to a significantly higher level.
Lee Velasquez, Webster’s attorney, acknowledged learning of the decades-old convictions was a big blow to the defense.
"It was surprise," he said. "We weren’t expecting that."
Velasquez argued in court that some of the misdemeanors on Webster’s record shouldn’t be counted and sought leniency because of Webster’s age. Two members of Chambers’ family addressed the court and asked that Webster be shown no mercy when sentenced.
St. Peter denied any call for a sentence less than the maximum and said Webster’s criminal history records seemed to be fairly and justly presented.
St. Peter said Webster had a history of domestic abuse and pointed to testimony from a medical examiner to assert that Chambers was the victim of a "brutal attack." The judge also said the defendant expressed only a "limited amount of remorse."
Webster will get credit for 204 days served prior to conviction and sentencing. He received a sentence for a conviction on DUI and other lesser charges unrelated to the Chambers’ case and will serve that time in addition to the murder sentence.
