Four years ago this past Monday, Timothy Tillman, former pastor of the Revival Church in Vincent, shot and killed his wife Janet.

It took less that two hours for a jury of his peers to find Timothy Tillman guilty of that murder late last week following just five days of trial.

Under the ruse of moving several shotguns to the couple’s bedroom, Timothy Tillman pulled the trigger of a shotgun he was carrying, shooting his wife in the back.

The Tillmans’ daughter was in the home at the time that her father took her mother’s life. The motive for this deliberate and preplanned murder, according to the district attorney’s office, was greed.

To say such shocking violence and destruction of human life is abnormal for our serene suburban lifestyle here in Shelby County is an understatement of grand proportions. We are not accustomed to violent stories of greed and murder. Nor was Janet Tillman’s family.

How could someone choose to take a spouse’s life in such a cold-blooded manner? Why did Janet Tillman have to die at the hands of someone she no doubt trusted and loved? It is unlikely we will ever have the answers to those questions or any of the others that could possibly explain this senseless murder.

Ultimately, the motive for Janet Tillman’s murder is unimportant. All that matters now is that someone’s daughter, mother and friend was taken too soon from this earth and that the person responsible for her murder will face justice.

The Shelby County District Attorneys office, particularly Assistant District Attorneys Alan Miller and Roger Hepburn, are to be commended for bringing justice to Janet Tillman’s family and to her community.

Tillman’s sentencing hearing will begin on December 14, bringing some closure to a dark chapter in the history of Janet Tillman’s family.