By Joe Johnson
A Florida man on Friday was convicted of murdering his wife two years ago in an Athens motel. Following a week long trial in Clarke County Superior Court, Judge H. Patrick Haggard sentenced 28-year-old Alexander Thomas Devanna to life in prison without the possibility of parole. According to Western Judicial Circuit Senior Assistant Attorney Brian Patterson, Alexander and Casey Devanna were on their way to Colorado from Florida when they stopped at the Best Western motel on North Milledge Avenue in August 2017. “The defendant, who was drinking heavily and using heroin, premeditated his wife’s murder at least one week prior to shooting and killing her with a 9mm handgun,” said Patterson, who was lead prosecutor in the case. “(Devanna) then left her to die and returned to Florida,” Patterson said. “He had absolutely no care or concern for her and showed no remorse for her death and his actions. “He thought he could lie and manipulate his way out of it, and he falsely claimed to the police and at trial that her death was an accident,” Patterson said. “Facebook messages, however, proved otherwise. He repeatedly messaged his friends that he intended to kill her and even took a picture of him pointing the gun at her while she was lying asleep in bed. We are thankful that the jury returned a verdict that speaks the truth about what happened, who did it, and why it happened.”
