Man sentenced to 2 consecutive lifetimes for 2017 double slaying in Peabody

Wes Doughty, 42, received two consecutive lifetime sentences Monday for brutally killing a Peabody couple in February 2017.

Mark Greenlaw, 37, was shot to death and Jennifer O’Connor, 40, was stabbed to death in what prosecutors said was a drug den. Their bodies were found wrapped in plastic and carpeting and sitting near a propane tank and cans of kerosene.

After killing the couple, prosecutors say Doughty carjacked a Honda Accord in Middleton, left its driver in Boston, and drove the car to South Carolina, where he was arrested about a week later.

Following a weeklong trial, a jury found Doughty guilty of armed carjacking, kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, attempted arson, and two counts of first degree murder.

Doughty was initially also charged with raping O’Connor, but the charge was dropped after another man involved in the crime asserted his Fifth Amendment right not to testify at Doughty’s trial.

Michael Hebb, Doughty’s alleged co-conspirator, pleaded guilty in October 2017 to being an accessory after the fact to one of the murders and the attempted arson. Hebb was sentenced to six to seven years in state prison, according to the Salem News.

Essex Assistant District Attorney Kate MacDougall requested the consecutive life terms.

“While it is largely symbolic, it speaks to the separate and distinct acts,” she said in her sentencing argument, according to the DA’s office. “Mark and Jennifer were deeply loved and deserved a chance to win their war against addiction.” 

Along with the life sentences, Doughty received 20 years of probation during which he cannot have any contact with Greenlaw or O’Connor’s families. The probation period began Monday.

He will serve time for the carjacking and kidnapping concurrently with the first life sentence. Doughty also technically received 948 days of “jail credit” on his first term, the DA’s office said.