CLINTON - An alleged serial killer found guilty of a 2017 murder was sentenced to life in prison in an East Feliciana Parish courtroom on Tuesday, District Attorney Sam D'Aquilla said.

On Aug. 2, Ryan Sharpe was found guilty of the first-degree murder of 48-year-old Brad Defranceschi by a 12-person jury. The jury arrived at their verdict in less than an hour. 

"That carries a mandatory life in prison, and we're very excited about that because we don't think he ever needs to get out and have an opportunity to do this to anybody ever again," East Feliciana Sheriff Jeff Travis said in August. "I don't think there's any amount of justice that could ever make up for what he had done."

DeFranceschi and two others — Thomas Bass in East Feliciana Parish and Carroll Breeden in East Baton Rouge Parish — were killed in 2017. A fourth victim, Buck Hornsby, survived a shooting in East Feliciana Parish. 

Defranceschi was working in his front yard when he was shot in October 2017, a month after Breeden was killed doing yard work. Bass was killed in his carport in July 2017. Hornsby was exercising outside when he was shot.

Throughout the investigation, Sharpe said the government had issued him hunting "tags" that he needed to account for by killing people. His retrial was delayed while his lawyer questioned Sharpe's mental competency. 

Sharpe is due in court again in East Baton Rouge Parish on March 3, 2025, court records show.