TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Supreme Court has denied the appeal of Mark Sievers for his first-degree murder conviction for his involvement in the death of his wife.
The court also denied Sievers appeal of his corresponding death sentence and his conviction for conspiracy to commit murder.
According to court documents, Sievers’ lawyers made several claims against the ruling, including that a polygraph was not performed on one of the accused killer’s Curtis Wayne Wright. He also claims testimony provided by neighbors should not have been allowed due to it being irrelevant.
The Supreme Court rebuffed all of these claims.
“As to the first-degree murder count, the State had to prove that Dr. Sievers was dead, that Sievers’ criminal act caused her death, and that her death was premeditated,” The Court stated in ruling. “Because Sievers was not present at the murder, the jury was instructed on the principal theory of liability. Under that theory, Sievers could be found guilty of first-degree murder if he had procured, hired, or aided Dr. Sievers’ killing.”
In 2019, Sievers hired Curtis Wayne Wright to stage a home invasion and kill his wife Dr. Theresa Sievers. Wright would enlist the help of Jimmy Rodgers to help carry out the murder in exchange for nearly $100,000 in life insurance proceeds.
While Mark Sievers was on a vacation with this two daughters, Wright and Rodgers would travel from Missouri to Bonita Springs, where they would bludgeon Dr. Sievers to death with hammers.
Two weeks later, Wright was targeted as a suspect and later search warrants uncovered evidence that connected him to the death of Dr. Sievers.
Wright would receive 25 years in prison after accepting a plea deal to testify against Mark Sievers and Jimmy Rodgers.