A 39-year-old Alcolu man will spend the rest of his natural life in a Virginia prison, with no possibility of parole.
John Moses Ragin was sentenced Wednesday afternoon by a Virginia judge after a jury deciding between the death penalty and a life sentence could not reach a decision after about eight hours of deliberation that began late Tuesday afternoon, according to Peter Dujardin of the Daily Press in Hampton Roads, Va. The same jury convicted Ragin on Thursday to three counts of capital murder and one count of second-degree murder for the 2011 stabbing deaths of his wife Crystal Ragin, and his stepchildren, Sierra, 15; La'Kwan, 11; and Rasheed, 6.
Prosecutors argued before the jury during the guilt and penalty phases that Ragin deserved death for stabbing the four victims more than 70 times altogether and then setting fire to the family's home before fleeing to his parents' home in Alcolu.
They told jurors that only Ragin's blood would satisfy the crime, according to the Daily Press.
They also told jurors about Ragin’s previous conviction of voluntary manslaughter. He served 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in the early 1990s to shooting and killing his best friend, Kevin Billups, on Thanksgiving. He was released about 2005 at the age of 30.
Ragin’s attorneys presented the case for life on Tuesday morning, and Ragin surprised the courtroom by taking the stand in his defense against his attorneys’ advice.
According to ABC-13 News of Hampton Roads, Va., Ragin showed no remorse on the stand and claimed he didn’t kill his family. He also told the judge he wanted to represent himself during the death penalty hearing.
Character witnesses told jurors that Ragin was "quiet and calm," family-oriented and a good father, husband, brother and person. The Ragin family said they were "close knit," and didn’t realize that John and Crystal were having marital problems or on the verge of a divorce until after the murders.
Crystal had, in fact, received a restraining order for Ragin, and received a deferred sentence by a Virginia judge in that matter just three days before the slayings. Prosecutors told jurors during the guilt-phase of the trial that Ragin stabbed the four victims and then set fire to the family home in Virginia before fleeing to his former home in South Carolina.
According to police reports, La’Kwan and Rasheed died of head and neck wounds, while Sierra was stabbed in the head and torso. She was so badly burned that she could not be identified at first.
Crystal Ragin, a member of Army at Fort Eustis, Va., had just returned home from Iraq. Friends and family who testified Monday during the penalty phase for the prosecution said she was "an outstanding soldier, and a fair leader" who had been deployed overseas several times.
John Moses Ragin’s father, Ernest, told The Manning Times in 2011 that his son didn’t act any differently than normal when he showed up on a hot August afternoon in 2011 to drop his and Crystal’s one son off.
"Came here just like he always do, didn’t act no way out of the ordinary," Ernest said. "It’s just a sad situation. I can’t begin to picture in my mind my son doing anything like that."
Clarendon County Sheriff Randy Garrett called Ragin a "butcher" during both bond and extradition hearings later in August and September 2011. Ragin was ultimately returned to Virginia in October 2011.
