Woman pleads guilty to murdering ex-surgeon and fleeing in a utility bucket truck

A woman who in 2015 stole a utility bucket truck to evade police and murder charges pleaded guilty Wednesday. She admitted to multiple charges, including the murder of a former surgeon and the theft of the truck.

Vanessa Napier, 35, could face the recommended prison sentence of 20 years for the murder charge, Fayette County Commonwealth’s Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn said. Prosecutors also recommended sentences of five years for theft, five years for wanton endangerment, one year for tampering with evidence, one year for criminal mischief and one year for fleeing police.

On July 3, 2015, Napier assaulted a truck driver, stole his bucket truck and led officers on a low-speed pursuit through Fayette and Madison counties, police said at the time. She was later charged in the stabbing death of John Sharp.

Sharp, a former surgeon, was found dead on July 4, 2015, outside a house on Athens-Walnut Hill Road. He’d died two days prior to being found, the coroner’s office said at the time.

After she was arrested, Napier told investigators she’d attacked Sharp with a knife while he slept, police testified in a 2015 hearing. Napier then went to a nearby house, where she left the knife, before having breakfast at a hotel and stealing the bucket truck at a BP gas station, police said.

Napier will be sentenced on Jan. 25, Red Corn said. At that point, it will be determined whether the sentences for each charge will be served consecutively or concurrently.

This story was originally published November 22, 2017 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Woman pleads guilty to murdering ex-surgeon and fleeing in a utility bucket truck."