Judge adds 25 years to life term for man who stabbed ex-wife 47 times in front of daughter

Jamie Satterfield | Knoxville

A judge on Thursday stacked a 25-year prison term onto the life sentence a jury meted out last year for a Knox County man who fatally stabbed his ex-wife 47 times in front of his own daughter.

Tyler Enix, 39, is already serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 51 years in the October 2015 stabbing death of ex-wife Kimberly McFarland Enix in front of the couple’s then-two-year-old daughter.

Tyler Enix faces murder and kidnapping charges Tyler Enix is accused of stabbing his ex-wife, Kimberly McFarland Enix, 47 times in her Fountain City condo in October 2015, then kidnapping their daughter, Brooklynne Emerie.

But he also faced a separate sentencing hearing for robbing his ex-wife of her bank card and cash after the slaying. Testimony at last year’s trial showed Enix fled with the couple’s daughter – using his slain ex-wife’s cash – to Ohio before authorities captured him.

'Brutal murder with a child there'

Knox County Criminal Court Judge Steve Sword on Thursday ruled – at the behest of prosecutors Molly Martin and Kevin Allen – Enix’s crimes after the slaying merited additional punishment.

“This was a situation where you have a brutal murder with a child there … stolen away (by Enix) from the family that loves her,” Sword said. “What is significant to me … is (he) takes this child and jeopardizes her life.”

Sword sentenced Enix to an additional 25 years for especially aggravated robbery. That sentence guarantees Enix, who has been jailed since his capture in 2015, likely will die behind bars before he is eligible for a parole hearing.

Enix doesn’t deny he repeatedly plunged a knife into his ex-wife’s body but insisted she came at him with the knife and he flew into a rage.

He told Sword Thursday he was sorry for his crimes and “not a day goes by” in which he doesn’t think about his ex-wife.

'He's an abuser'

But Martin presented testimony Thursday from other women Enix battered and stalked before he killed his ex-wife in a bid to show that no woman is safe if Enix goes free – no matter his age.

“He’s an abuser,” Martin said.

Allison McCoy testified Enix repeatedly threatened to kill her during their relationship.

“I (suffered) a lot of verbal abuse from him, stalking,” she told Sword.

She sought charges against him and a restraining order but neither action stopped his behavior, she said.

Jessica Moore said she, too, turned to the courts for help when Enix began abusing and harassing her – to no avail.

“He showed up at my work place and told me he was going to blow my (expletive) head off,” she said.

Martin said a third domestic violence victim of Enix’s – Lori Ellison – could not attend Thursday’s hearing but also sought charges against Enix for abuse.

“He’s a dangerous offender,” Martin said.

'He's already being punished'

Knox County Assistant Public Defender John Halstead countered that Enix would be 87 years old before he would be eligible for a parole hearing on the first-degree murder conviction in his ex-wife’s death.

“He’s already being punished,” Halstead argued.

Sword said he was “mindful of that” but still believes Enix is too dangerous – at any age – to go free.

Enix stood trial in September 2017 in Sword’s courtroom in the slaying and related robbery.

Martin and Allen contended Enix went to his ex-wife’s Templeton Court condominium with violence on his mind, obsessed with a belief she was seeing someone new.

Knoxville Police Department Investigator Jason Booker has testified the slaying scene belied Enix’s claim his ex-wife attacked him first. Booker pointed to blood spatter patterns and the positioning of her body to suggest Kimberly Enix was unarmed and on the floor, trying to crawl away from her attacker.

More: Jealous messages came before 47 stab wounds Tyler Enix delivered to his ex-wife

For weeks leading up to the slaying, Tyler Enix bombarded his ex-wife with text and Facebook messages that were a mix of hateful, jealous claims and apologetic missives.

Halstead had argued during the trial Enix was an emotionally stunted man who had no “emotional skill” to deal with his feelings over the couple’s April 2015 divorce.

The same jury that convicted Enix of first-degree murder deadlocked over whether he should be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Because of that deadlock, the law required Sword to impose a life sentence with a chance at parole after a minimum 51-year prison term.