KANSAS CITY —A judge on Thursday sentenced 47-year-old Gene Birdsong to life in prison without the possibility of parole -- plus 17 years more -- for the fatal stabbing in November 2018 of his wife Tabitha, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.
In February, a jury found Birdsong guity of 1st Degree Murder and Armed Criminal Action charges. The jury recommended 17 years, at the prosecutor's suggestion, for the Armed Criminal Action conviction. The Murder 1st Degree convictions carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
According to court records, on Nov. 6, 2018, officers from the Kansas City Police responded to Roanoke and Madison in Kansas City on a report of a dead body. They found the victim's body. She had obvious head injuries. They also found in her pocket an order of protection with her and the defendant's name on it.
Witnesses told police they were seen or heard together hours before her death. A witness also saw the defendant with bloody pants. Police found bloody clothing in a room where the defendant had been staying.