HOUSTON — The man who killed two people and injured a third during a two-day crime spree in 2017 was sentenced to 90 years in prison after being found guilty of two counts of murder.
Russell Cormier, now 60, was 53 when he killed his ex-wife and a former co-worker in northeast Houston. He also had a list of more people he wanted to kill due to previous disagreements.
"We are grateful that the jury agreed that this man is extremely dangerous to our community and deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison," Assistant District Attorney Sepi Zimmer said. "He had a mental list of people he was going to kill, and the people who are still alive should be able to live their lives in safety and without fear."
On the morning of April 17, 2017, Cormier confronted his ex-wife, 61-year-old Fannie McWhite, outside of her home on Greencanyon Drive as she was getting ready to go to work. He was upset that she recently went on a cruise even though they had been divorced for four years. He shot and killed her during the fight.
Cormier then drove to the trailer where he lived on the northeast side and packed up some things before he set it on fire and headed to a former co-worker's place of employment, Superior Truck Care on Kindred Street.
That's where Cormier shot and killed 60-year-old Thornton Bivens. They hadn't worked together for more than four years.
The next day, Cormier went back to his trailer and shot his neighbor in the stomach with a shotgun. The neighbor survived.
Harris County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested Cormier on April 21, 2017. He was found hiding under a slide at Gerber Park along Gaston Street in northeast Harris County.
The only connection between the shooting victims was that they had previous disagreements with Cormier.
"Our prosecutors work hard to bring cases like this to trial to get justice for victims’ families who should not have to wait this long," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. "This defendant played every game in the book to delay trial, but he was finally held accountable for his actions, and now, hopefully, the victims and families of the victims can move past this horrible episode."
The trial lasted six days.