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Wilson Man Avoids Death Penalty For Wife's Murder

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WILSON, N.C. — A Wilson man will spend at least 35 years in prison for killing his wife.

Ricky Bailey pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first degree kidnapping in exchange for the long prison sentence.

Bailey kidnapped his wife, Dena, from a Food Lion Parking Lot in 2003 and shot her. Police found her body in her car on a Nash County farm.

The plea deal may have spared Bailey's life. Prosecutors originally planned to seek the death penalty.

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