A California scientist, who was behind a cross-country murder for hire plot in Vermont almost 8 years ago was sentenced Monday in federal court in Burlington to two life sentences in prison.

Serhat D. Gumrukcu, 43, of Los Angeles received concurrent life sentences for his role in orchestrating the execution of Gregory Davis, 49, in the Northeast Kingdom on Jan. 6, 2018.

“Justice has been served,” the victim’s wife, Melissa Davis, told news reporters as she walked out of the fifth-floor courtroom following the two-hour sentencing.

Mrs. Davis sat through the five-week trial in April and attended the sentencings of the other three men that pleaded guilty as part of the complex conspiracy that was sparked by Gumrukcu attempting to defraud Gregory Davis earlier in an oil investment plan.

The two concurrent life sentences were somewhat anticlimactic.  Federal law required mandatory life sentences for both charges:  having the triggerman cross state lines for the killing and for a second count of conspiracy to commit murder by crossing state lines.

Chief Federal Judge Christina Reiss also imposed a concurrent 20-year prison term for the major wire fraud count – the third conviction by the jury on Good Friday afternoon.

Melissa Davis, a deeply religious woman, said in open court it was fitting that the jury delivered its verdict about the same time Jesus Christ died during Holy Week.

“And just as the verdict came in on Good Friday at 3 p.m. – the very hour Jesus declared, ‘It is finished’ – this moment carries the same finality.  Justice has been spoken.  It is finished,” she said.

Earlier in her comments, Davis turned to Gumrukcu and told him she forgave him.

“Serhat, you have shown no remorse.  But forgiveness is not about who deserves it – it is about refusing to be chained to bitterness.  Today, I release you – from my anger, my right to vengeance, and the bitterness that tried to hold me captive.  It is not my job to condemn you.  That belongs to God.  My job is to live free,” she said.

“I stand here not as a victim, but as a woman redeemed by grace.  Serhat Gumrukcu, I forgive you,” as she turned from a podium to look at him. 

“In forgiving, I take back my life.  You wrote a tragedy – but I rewrite it in grace.”

Gumrukcu continued his brazen stance of being a victim.  He claimed he was innocent and was not part of the conspiracy.

“If I had learned about it, I would have tried to stop it,” he claimed.

Judge Reiss did not buy his claims.

“You had the sole motive,” the longtime judge said. 

Gumrukcu and the co-defendants have been ordered to make $1.3 million in restitution.  Reiss also directed Gumrukcu to undergo substance abuse help while in prison.

Reiss also imposed a 3-year term of supervised release if he should somehow ever get out of prison.  She also assessed $300 in court fees. 

The defense asked that he serve his time in a federal prison near Los Angeles.  It would allow him to be near his husband.   

Melissa Davis also has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Gumrukcu that has been on hold while the criminal case is resolved.

Gumrukcu’s husband, William Anderson Wittekind, has filed to intervene in the civil lawsuit in the hopes of recovering some of his spouse’s money.

Wittekind attended the Monday sentencing, along with his Vermont lawyer Heather Ross.

During the trial prosecutors weaved together testimony and exhibits to spin a compelling story that Gumrukcu wanted Gregory Davis dead because there was a fear he might go to authorities about a bogus oil investment deal. 

Gumrukcu was worried that any new claims of fraud against him in late 2017 would sour an upcoming proposed $100 million deal that the defendant was about to sign.  The deal went through about a week after the homicide.

The gunman, Jerry Banks, 37, of Garland, Col. created a plan to impersonate a federal deputy marshal and took Davis out of his Hawkins Road home on a Saturday night, drove to nearby Barnet, where he fatally shot the handcuffed and defenseless victim in the back.  Testimony at trial indicated Davis left his six children and had kissed his pregnant wife goodbye. 

The children are now 7 to 20 years old.

Banks, wearing USMS gear and carrying a bogus arrest warrant, handcuffed Davis, put him into his vehicle, which he had equipped with flashing blue and red lights, and drove about 15 miles to Barnet.  He turned into a pull-off area and took Davis out of the back seat because of complaints by Davis about tight handcuffs.

Instead of adjusting the handcuffs, Banks fired 14 shots with a .22-caliber pistol with a home-made silencer, striking Davis at least eight times from behind, including twice in the head.  He partially covered Davis with snow and headed home.  The body was found the next day, and Vermont State Police began the homicide investigation.  They were joined by the FBI and others

The three co-conspirators were sentenced earlier.

Banks is serving nearly 17 years in prison (200 months), followed by 5 years of supervised release.

The two middlemen received shorter prison terms.  

Aron Ethridge, 44, of Henderson, Nev. was sentenced to about 9 years in prison (140 months) followed by 5 years of supervised release.

Berk Eratay, 39, of Las Vegas was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison (110 months) followed by 3 years of supervised release. 

The plan to use two middlemen was set up in an effort to allow Gumrukcu to be able to claim he did not know the actual shooter, prosecutors said.

Gumrukcu reached out to a longtime friend, Eratay, to try to line up a hit.  Eratay eventually connected with Ethridge, a friend, who connected with Banks, officials said.

During the sentencing, Melissa Davis, also expressed appreciation to several people and agencies for bringing the case to a successful conclusion.  She cited the:

–The Vermont State Police, “for every call, every update, every reassurance that you were working tirelessly to find who murdered Gregg;” 

–The Federal Bureau of Investigation, for its “coordination across state lines,” “professionalism,” and its “relentless pursuit of truth [that] made all the difference;”

— And to the prosecution team, stating their “strength, commitment, and unwavering pursuit of justice over these many years will stay with me for the rest of my life. I watched the way you prosecuted this case during those five weeks with excellence, clarity, and conviction. There were moments I sat in that courtroom simply proud—knowing God had appointed each of you to pursue justice for Gregg.”

Melissa Davis also expressed appreciation to her victim advocate, the U.S. Marshals Service, and to Chief Judge Reiss.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher also commended the efforts of the Vermont State Police and FBI for their collaborative investigation of Gumrukcu, Eratay, Banks, and Ethridge, and the crimes associated with Davis’s slaying.

Drescher also thanked the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Homeland Security Investigations, as well as the numerous law enforcement entities across the country who worked to identify Banks as the hired hitman, Ethridge and Eratay as middlemen, and Gumrukcu as the financier and benefactor of the murder scheme.

He also cited the ongoing work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul J. Van de Graaf and Zachary Stendig with office support from Karen Arena-Leene and Erin Thompson-Moran throughout the case and trial.