KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A man convicted in the stabbing death of his wife will spend the rest of his life in prison.
A Jackson County judge sentenced Gene Birdsong, 47, Thursday afternoon, according to a news release from the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office.
The judge also added an additional 17 years to the end of Birdsong's prison term.
The jury that found Birdsong guilty for the November 2018 murder of Tabitha Birdsong also found him guilty of armed criminal action, the news release states.
Jurors recommended a sentence of 17 years on the armed criminal action conviction.
Missouri law mandates a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole for a person convicted of first degree murder, according to the news release.
KCMO police officers found Tabitha Birdsong's body on at 7: 22 a.m. on November 6, 2018, near Roanoke Road and Madison Avenue.
Officers also found a protection order that named Tabitha Birdsong as the petitioner and the respondent as Gene Birdsong, according to a court document.
Birdsong went to a friend's house the day of the murder wearing blood-soaked pants with his right hand wrapped in a piece of cloth, the court document states.
Birdsong also claimed he had been attacked.
Kansas City, Kansas, police officers arrested Birdsong about 15 hours after the killing.
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