A sentencing hearing began today for a convicted murderer facing the death penalty. Shane Padgett plead guilty last year to raping and killing Cara Holley in Roanoke County almost four years ago. Her body was found in Franklin County. The sentencing hearing could take up to ten days, and Padgett could get the death penalty because he did not take a plea deal. Members of Holley’s family testified in court this morning that their daughter had told them about threatening messages she had recieved from Padgett. His defense will try to prove he was in an altered mental state at the time of the murder.
