Emotions erupt after Muncie man draws maximum sentence for killing his wife
MUNCIE, Ind. — Seven years of anger, frustration and heartache boiled over Monday when a Muncie man was sentenced to 65 years in prison for killing his wife.
A Delaware Circuit Court 2 jury in August found Kenneth Wayne Herbert, 54, guilty of murder in the June 2016 beating death of 48-year-old Kimberley Herbert.
Seconds after Judge Kimberly Dowling on Monday had imposed the maximum sentence of 65 years on Herbert, some in the courtroom gallery — several of them friends or family members of the victim — loudly and in some cases profanely let the defendant know what they thought of him.
"I hope you rot in ------- hell!" one man shouted.
Deputy Prosecutor Joe Orick said he heard Herbert tell his antagonists, "I'll be back."
More: Muncie man found guilty of murder in wife's 2016 death
Judge Dowling ordered the courtroom cleared. The handcuffed Herbert was quickly led out of the courtroom to be returned to the Delaware County jail, where he will await transfer to a state prison.
Herbert's ability to one day "be back" in Muncie would likely require that his murder conviction or sentence be overturned on appeal.
His defense attorney, Lisa Manning of Plainfield, told the judge as a result of his age, Herbert would "probably be incarcerated for the remainder of his life."
Manning asked the judge to consider her client had grown up in an abusive household and been a drug abuser since his early teens.
Orick had recommended the maximum 65-year sentence, calling Herbert "the very reason the state of Indiana builds prisons."
The deputy prosecutor said Herbert was a "sadistic violent predator" who subjected his wife to a "horrible vicious beating" that led to her death.
Judge Dowling said Herbert's conviction "cries out for the maximum sentence," noting he had left his mortally wounded victim unattended at their home for an extended period before contacting a friend to help deliver her to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital.
Kimberley Herbert was pronounced dead soon after arrival at the hospital.
An autopsy determined she had suffered "multiple traumatic blunt force trauma injuries" to her "head, neck, torso and extremities." She also had broken ribs and a lacerated liver.
The judge also said Kenneth Herbert had shown no remorse, and apparently boasted about his physical abuse of his spouse.
Herbert was not charged with murder until March 2021, after John Branson, an investigator with the Delaware County Sheriff's Department, had reopened the case.
Orick on Monday presented the testimony of four witnesses — Kimberley Herbert's daughter and granddaughter, who both urged the judge to impose a maximum sentence, and two of the defendant's former wives.
Both of those women said Kenneth Herbert has also physically abused them during their marriages and said he should spend the rest of his life behind bars.
One of the former wives said Herbert should "never see the light of day again."
"He's a predator," she added.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie man convicted of killing wife draws maximum term, angry remarks
