PANAMA CITY — David Ian Challender pleaded guilty Friday to the murder, robbery and burglary of an elderly Lynn Haven man and was sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison.
Challender, 28, was the last of three people to resolve their case in the torture and murder of 90-year-old Wallace Scott the night of April 4, 2013.
Kevin Gene Jeffries and Challender killed Scott in his home while trying to get his ATM PIN. Scott was strangled to death and the two men, along with Ashley Nicole Griffin, 29, made off with guns, a clock and cash.
Challender’s plea spared him from a possible death sentence. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, burglary of a dwelling while armed and armed robbery. Circuit Judge Brantley Clark Jr. sentenced him to three life terms without the possibility of parole.
Challender was arrested at his father’s Caryville home in April of last year, bringing a close to a manhunt for the three suspects accused of Scott’s violent death.
Scott was bound and tortured in the trio’s effort to get the man’s PIN, but he refused to give up the information before being murdered and then robbed April 4, 2013 at his Lynn Haven home.
Jeffries, 29, was convicted at trial and a jury recommended he be executed for his part in the crime. His sentencing is scheduled for later this year. Griffin has pleaded guilty to second degree murder for her role in the slaying. She faces life in prison during her sentencing, scheduled for October.