(Frankfort) The man convicted of murder in the 2010 shooting death of Tomma Graves, a Franklin County victim's advocate, declared at his sentencing Friday that he should have a new trial. "I am innocent, and I was wrongly convicted," Alastair Couch told Franklin Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate. Nevertheless, Wingate sentenced Couch to 50 years in prison for murder plus 10 years for tampering with physical evidence. The jury in July had recommended the sentences be served consecutively, for a total of 60 years, and Wingate followed that recommendation. In a defiant written statement he read to the court, Couch said that his testimony in his defense was made up by attorneys Mark Bubenzer and Max Comley. Special prosecutor Shawna Kincer said Couch's statement "was very bizarre and obviously not something any attorney would do" nor would attorneys "risk their reputation on something so bizarre." Ramona White, Graves' mother, also said that she did not believe Couch's statement. In his trial, Couch had testified that Graves was shot by a masked man dressed all in black, and that he had struggled with the man inside a truck cab as shots struck Graves. Graves, 37, was found shot to death in her pickup truck on Aug. 2, 2010, in a parking lot in downtown Frankfort. She had counseled victims of domestic violence since 2007 for the county attorney and commonwealth's attorney. Graves and Couch had an on-and-off romantic relationship since they had met at Kentucky State University in Frankfort. The tampering charge was related to Couch throwing the murder weapon, a revolver, from a cliff off a rural Franklin County road. Police later found the gun in a search after receiving a tip. Couch will be eligible for parole in 20 years.
