CLINTON, Tenn. (Court TV) — The same Tennessee jury that found a man guilty of the brutal rape and murder of a woman in 2019 has recommended he be put to death.
Rebecca Dishman pleaded guilty to Jennifer Paxton’s murder and agreed to testify against her boyfriend, Sean Finnegan. (Anderson County Jail)
Sean Finnegan, 56, was found guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence in the death of Jennifer Paxton, 36. Finnegan is also separately accused of sexual abuse of a child 3 years old or younger, which allegedly occurred in May 2020. The jury returned verdicts of not guilty on counts of aggravated rape with bodily injury and conspiracy to commit first-degree premeditated murder.
The penalty phase began on Tuesday, and jurors returned on Wednesday with a unanimous recommendation that he receive the death penalty. The judge immediately sentenced Finnegan to be put to death by lethal injection.
Finnegan will be sentenced for the other nine counts on which he was found guilty but which were not punishable by the death penalty at a later date.
Finnegan was accused of conspiring with his girlfriend, Rebecca Dishman, to lure Paxton to his home in Oak Ridge, Tenn., with the promise of giving her a place to stay. Once Paxton was in the house, the couple attacked her with a baseball bat, raped her and tortured her. Documents reviewed by Court TV reveal the couple was accused of shackling the victim to the bed before finally strangling her with a ligature and leaving her for dead.
The crime was committed sometime between Dec. 1 and 31, 2019. But investigators say the crimes didn’t end with Paxton’s death, noting that Finnegan “physically mistreated a corpse in such a way as to be shocking and offensive.” Finnegan removed a portion of at least one of Paxton’s breasts and nose, as well as breaking her bones and ligaments to get her body to fit into a stand-up freezer.
Police found Paxton’s body on Aug. 5, 2020, while investigating her murder at Finnegan’s home. Prosecutors say Finnegan, knowing police were coming, removed Paxton’s decomposing body from the freezer, hid it under the bed and cleaned the freezer in an attempt to cover up the crime.
Dishman pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and two counts of rape of a child on Sept. 5, 2023. As part of the agreement, she was required to testify against Finnegan at his trial. In exchange for her truthful testimony, Dishman will receive a sentence of life in prison plus an additional 50 years to be served at 100%.
DAILY TRIAL HIGHLIGHTS
DAY 7 – 8/20/24
- Both sides presented arguments in the penalty phase:
DAY 6 – 8/19/24
- After more than 11 hours of deliberations, the jury reached a verdict.
DAY 5 – 8/17/24
- The jury began its deliberations after hearing jury instructions.
- The jury deliberated for more than three hours.
- Out of the jury’s presence, several victim impact statements were read into the record to allow the defense to object.
DAY 4 – 8/16/24
- The prosecution and defense delivered closing arguments.
DAY 3 – 8/15/24
- SA Jennifer Millsaps, a forensic scientist with the TBI, testified about DNA found inside a freezer that matched victim Jennifer Paxton.
- Rent-A-Center employee Daniel Miller testified that Finnegan purchased a deep freezer in Dec. 2019. It was delivered that day and he instructed them to leave it on the front porch.
- Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan testified about the condition Paxton’s body was in and the wounds she suffered.
DAY 2 – 8/14/24
- Jurors heard testimony from a series of law enforcement officers and a TBI forensic scientist who detailed the evidence collection process.
DAY 1 – 8/13/24
- The prosecution and defense delivered opening statements.
- Co-defendant Rebecca Dishman, who pleaded guilty as part of an agreement that took the death penalty off the table in exchange for her testimony, testified.
- Dishman described – in graphic detail – her “submissive” role in a romantic relationship with Sean Finnegan, as well as the abduction, torture and eventual killing of Jennifer Paxton in Finnegan’s home
- WATCH: Ex-Girlfriend Gives Gruesome Testimony of Victim’s Torture and Murder
