WOODSFIELD ­– Jacob Wilson was sentenced Monday for the murder of two men in 2021.

Wilson, 40, shot 24-year-old Daniel E. Franzoi of Beallsville and 20-year-old Malakai Devon Curry of Caldwell, Ohio, to death the night of Oct. 30, 2021, outside the Wilson farm just off of Ohio 26 on Wilson Lane in Woodsfield. He heard his sentence Monday from Monroe County Common Pleas Judge Julie Selmon, who imposed a prison term of 30 years to life.

Court reporter John Yocca recounted the sentencing.

“This was a plea deal. They reduced it from aggravated murder down to murder. Two counts,” he said.

“It was emotional for the (victims’ families).”

Yocca added that many spoke during the review of victim impact statements.

“The mother of the one victim spoke, and the sister and brother of the victim spoke,” he said.

Yocca said a victim’s advocate also read letters from family members.

“Then, of course, the defendant’s daughter … the victim’s advocate read a letter on her behalf, and the defendant’s sister came and gave a statement also.”

He said Wilson made no statement.

“Because there’s two victims and two counts, Judge Selmon ran those consecutive to one another,” Yocca said.

According to prior reports, Wilson’s daughter was dating one of the victims and his sister was dating the other victim, but his motive for the killings has not been definitely pinned down.

Prosecutor James Peters commented on the case.

“We had originally charged Mr. Wilson with two counts of aggravated murder, which would have required some evidence of premeditation or prior calculation or design. Unfortunately the case never really had a whole lot of evidence of motive, although we had a little bit of evidence regarding some plan. … It really was not enough to derail a possible plea, so we did accept a plea to murder rather than aggravated murder. That offense still requires 15 years to life for each count, so those were run consecutive for 30 years to life, so we essentially believe this will be a life sentence for Mr. Wilson. Since he’s already 40 years old, his first eligibility for parole will be when he’s 70 years old, and I find it unlikely he’ll be granted parole at that time,” Peters said. “After much discussion with families of the victims, we all agreed that was the best resolution at this time rather than run any risk of trial.”

He added his best wishes to the families.

“It was definitely an emotional case. Without a motive it was kind of hard to give them the answers that they wanted. We’ll never be able to tell them why this happened,” Peters said.

Wilson’s defense attorney, Steven Stickles, was contacted but did not give a statement.