FORT WORTH -- If Chelsea Richardson felt relief when her death sentence officially became a life sentence, she did not show it.
Richardson was back in a Tarrant County courtroom Tuesday, this time to hear visiting Judge Steve Herod accept a sentencing agreement reached by prosecutors and her attorneys for the 2003 murders of Rick and Suzanna Wamsley of Mansfield.
Wearing a baggy yellow jail jumpsuit and dark-rimmed glasses, Richardson, 27, spoke only to acknowledge that she waived her right to appeal.
The hearing was mostly a formality. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Richardson's death sentence in November.
The judges ruled that the punishment phase of Richardson's trial in 2005 was affected by misconduct by then-prosecutor Mike Parrish, who withheld evidence from the defense. Parrish retired in 2008.
Richardson and her boyfriend, Andrew Wamsley, were convicted of capital murder in separate trials for the deaths of his parents. Authorities said Andrew Wamsley, Richardson and a friend, Susana Toledano, killed the couple so that Andrew Wamsley could inherit his parents' $1.56 million estate.
Richardson was the only one to receive the death penalty.
Under the new sentence, she must serve 40 years before she is eligible for parole. She will get credit for time served.
