Sean Finnegan meets fate in the cruel death of Jennifer Paxton

A Tennessee man convicted of brutally raping, torturing and murdering a woman along with his girlfriend has been sentenced to death, a jury decided on Wednesday.

Sean Finnegan turned white as a sheet in the courtroom when the judge announced the jury's verdict: death by lethal injection, as a video shows.

His eyes wide, he stroked his long, greasy hair, but remained silent as he sat down, as he had throughout the disturbing case, WATE reported.

Finnegan, 56, was found guilty of killing 36-year-old Jennifer Gail Paxton along with his girlfriend Rebecca Dishman, 26, in 2019 after her battered and mutilated body was discovered in a freezer at their Oak Ridge home.

Her body was kept in the freezer for about eight months, during which time Finnegan viewed her corpse for sexual purposes, authorities said.

Finnegan had hidden the body under his bed before police searched the apartment in 2020.

The couple lured Paxton, who lived in a nearby homeless camp, into their home by offering her a place to stay – but instead they held her against her will and beat her with a baseball bat, prosecutors said.

According to court documents, she was handcuffed with a dog collar, chained to a bed and her arms were bound with zip ties.

Paxton was also raped multiple times and denied food and medical care before being strangled and placed in a freezer to die. Part of one of her breasts and her nose were cut off, officials said.

Dishman pleaded guilty to murder last year after agreeing to testify against Finnegan.

Finnegan will be transferred to the state prison in Nashville and executed by lethal injection, the judge said.

“Requesting the execution of a human being is one of the most serious decisions one can make,” Anderson County Attorney General Dave Clark said in a statement.

“In consultation with the victim's family, I felt it was important to ask an Anderson County jury to sentence Sean Finnegan to death for what he did to Jennifer Paxton. To do less may have sent the wrong message, dishonored Jennifer's memory, failed to acknowledge her suffering, or failed to recognize the magnitude of Finnegan's conduct,” he added.

Finnegan was found guilty on Monday of 11 counts, including involuntary manslaughter, premeditated murder during the commission or attempt of aggravated rape, desecration of a corpse and conspiracy to commit aggravated rape, WATE reported.

He is scheduled to appear in court again on November 7 to face the consequences of his non-death penalty convictions.

After the verdict, Paxton's family was seen crying in the courtroom, the source said. Finnegan shook hands with his lawyer and thanked them after everyone was dismissed.

Finnegan showed emotion only once during the trial, when his brother's ex-wife testified on his behalf and described how he was the victim of physical and sexual abuse as a child.

There are currently 46 people on death row in the US state of Tennessee. However, Governor Bill Lee has suspended executions in June 2022 pending the results of an independent investigation into lethal injection methods in the state.