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Man convicted of murdering wife, three kids says he did not get fair trial

Posted at 4:26 PM, Jun 26, 2014
and last updated 2014-06-26 19:09:13-04

Newport News, Va. - John Ragin walked into court smiling, prepared to argue that he didn’t have a fair trial.

Back in April, he was found guilty of stabbing his wife and her three children to death and setting their apartment on fire.

Today, he was formally sentenced after a jury previously couldn’t agree upon the death penalty.

But before being sentenced to life in prison, he went on for nearly 40 minutes dissecting almost all of his court appearances and trial.

Ragin said the commonwealth used improper witnesses and had insufficient evidence. He claims he didn’t have a fair trial.

He read several laws aloud, backing his arguments and criticizing the commonwealth; not once showing any remorse for murdering his family.

The whole 40 minutes, the judge stared at him listening while the commonwealth looked straight ahead.

But in the end, the judge didn't give in and sentenced Ragin to life behind bars despite his claims that he was treated unfairly.

Click here to see NewsChannel 3's full coverage of this trial.

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