Two Cops Get Long Sentences in Katrina Killing

Calling the crimes inexcusable and barbaric, a judge sentenced two former New Orleans police officers to prison today for their roles in the shooting death of an unarmed man whose body was later set on fire in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The judge gave David Warren 25 years for shooting 31-year-old Henry Glover and Gregory McRae 17 years for burning Glover's body afterward.

Warren had said he thought Glover had a gun and posed a threat when he shot him outside a police substation at a strip mall. District Judge Lance Africk called his testimony absurd. "You killed a man. Despite your tendentious arguments to the contrary, it was no mistake." A good Samaritan drove Glover's body to a police compound at a school, where McRae commandeered the vehicle and set it on fire. "Your conduct was barbaric," said the judge. "At a time when more was expected of you, you failed miserably." Click for background on the case here and here. (More New Orleans stories.)