Gaston County man found guilty after flipping story on wife’s killing

GASTONIA, N.C. — A Gaston County man who changed his story on the stand was found guilty of killing his wife on Wednesday.

Channel 9′s Ken Lemon was the only reporter in court this week for Rickey Holdsclaw’s voluntary manslaughter trial. Holdsclaw was originally arrested for first-degree murder after he told police he killed his wife, Judy Helms.

Holdsclaw was hurt by his own words. He had confessed several times that he shot his own wife in what prosecutors implied was a seemingly sympathetic mercy killing. Then he testified that his wife, who has Alzheimer’s Disease, killed herself.

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The judge on Wednesday said that wasn’t believable. Holdsclaw, 75, seemed stunned.

“The court finds that the defendant’s testimony about suicide is not credible,” Judge David Phillips said.

“This is the hard part,” Holdsclaw said.

Hours earlier, he cried on the stand and said he had a tender moment with his wife after the shooting.

“I bent down to her face and I put my face next to her hair, and I said, ‘Bye, baby,’” Holdsclaw testified.

Right after the shooting at their home in 2021, Holdsclaw called 911 and told dispatchers he killed Helms because her changes due to Alzheimer’s made her uncontrollable. He said she always told him she never wanted to go to a nursing home. Holdsclaw even asked officers at the scene and in police interviews to shoot him for killing his wife.

Then he took the stand and testified that she shot herself, adding that he lied to protect her image.

Judge Phillips said the evidence didn’t support that claim, and he also cast doubt on Holdsclaw’s previous claim.

“The court is not convinced this is a mercy killing,” Phillips said.

Holdsclaw faced a minimum of three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter. The judge ruled in the aggravating range and sentenced him to five to seven years in prison.

The judge asked Holdsclaw if he had anything to say for his sentencing.

“Thank you but I don’t think it would do any good, your honor,” Holdsclaw said.

The deputies escorted him out of court to prepare for his first day in prison.

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