Some of the article from the above link:
Defense attorneys for Hardy reached a plea agreement with Galveston County prosecutors late last week, with Hardy pleading guilty to charges of murder and tampering with evidence Monday in Judge Patricia Grady’s courtroom.
Hardy will serve 30 years in prison for the murder charge and 20 years for the tampering charge, but will serve the sentences concurrently. He is eligible for parole after 15 years.
Johnson’s family packed the courtroom for Monday’s hearing. They were silent as Hardy entered handcuffed in a green Galveston County Jail jumpsuit. Grady read Hardy the terms of his plea agreement, and Hardy officially entered his guilty plea to the two charges.
Kacey Launius, one of the prosecutors on Hardy’s case, said his attorneys had originally offered for Hardy to plead to a lesser charge of manslaughter and a reduced prison sentence, which prosecutors declined. Launius said they were preparing to begin a jury trial in December when his attorneys came back to them with an agreement to plead guilty to the murder charge.
“The most important thing that happened here is that the (Johnson) family got to see him stand up and take responsibility for what he did to Anne-Christine,” Launius said. “I think 30 years is a good result so that the family can start to heal.”
Johnson’s mother, Stephanie, father, Lee, and sister, Molly, all read victim impact statements at Monday’s hearing.
Lee Johnson said he would attend “any and all future parole hearings” to ensure that Hardy served the entirety of his 30-year sentence.
Stephanie Johnson detailed “all the ways (Hardy’s) actions had destroyed my life,” from almost losing her business and house, ignoring warning signs of cancer, and even avoiding kitchen knives, the weapon Hardy used to kill her daughter.
“By law you must spend at least 15 years of your 30-year sentence behind bars, but I am a lifer sentenced to the cruel and unusual punishment of trying to forget the grisly details you voluntarily provided of my daughter’s slaughter at your hands,” Johnson said.
League City man pleads guilty to ex-wife's slaying, sentenced to 30 years in prison
