TN Man Denied New Trial After Convicted of Killing Wife

In February, lawyers stated that Dale Larkin killed his wife, Teri Larkin, back in November of 2003 in a bathtub. He was apparently trying to obtain her life insurance payout. The jury believed them.

According to an article on TriCities.com from when the trial took place four months ago, on February 28th Dale was only fined $5,000 by Judge Robert Cupp for collecting on his wife’s life insurance policy; this is less than the $25,000 fine that was recommended by the jury. Prosecutors are also looking for him to pay $200,000 in restitution.

“Obviously, with him being in prison, it’s hard for him to make payments on that, but he does have real estate holdings and we’re asking that the court get a hold of those to satisfy that restitution obligation,” Assistant District Attorney Dennis Brooks said. “The jury said he got that money by fraudulent means and he should have to pay it back.”

The defense doesn’t agree. According to Larkin’s attorney, Mark Slagle, the life insurance issues were settled by both sides years ago in civil court.

“We claim that we do not owe any restitution,” Slagle said.

According to a more recent article in The Republic, Dale was convicted of first-degree murder and insurance fraud. This was because Teri Larkin’s life insurance policy, a total of $1.23 million, was divided with Teri Larkin’s daughter, Tia Gentry.

Criminal court Judge Robert Cupp ruled on June 3rd that it wasn’t his place to step in and overturn the verdict.

Slagle says he will appeal again.

The murder conviction carries with it an automatic sentence of life with a possibility for parole after 51 years.