MARION COUNTY — After less than three hours of deliberations, Marion County jury found a 50-year-old Sandoval man guilty of First Degree Murder this afternoon, with the prosecution quickly filing a statement of intent to have the defendant declared a habitual criminal.

Johnnie Mack (Source: MCSO)
Johnnie Mack
(Source: MCSO)

Johnnie Mack will remain in custody of the Marion County Jail until sentencing for the November 2014 shooting death of 45-year-old David Harris, of Wamac, a crime for which Mack could receive a sentence of life in prison.

A June 2, hearing was scheduled to hear the motion on the prosecution’s statement to have Mack declared a habitual criminal, which would allow for a life sentence.

Court records say Mack overheard Harris soliciting his wife Debra Mack for sex while in his Sandoval home.

It was Debra Mack who called 9-1-1 to report the shooting, eventually telling investigators her husband overheard Harris proposition her for sex, saying that Johnnie Mack left the home, returned to find Harris in his kitchen preparing breakfast and the two began to argue.

She then told investigators that her husband went outside to a shed behind the home, returned and shot Harris, telling her Harris shouldn’t have disrespected him in his home and that he should have shot her too.

Johnnie Mack again left the house and turned himself in to the Marion County jail the following day, calling his wife first to tell her the shooting was an accident. He has been held since that time in the Marion County jail. His $1 million bail has now been revoked.

The jury received the case just before 11 a.m. Wednesday, with only one alternate being released, as the other alternate was seated Tuesday to replace a juror who had become ill. The guilty verdict was returned around 1:30 p.m.

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