A Kentucky psycho who sliced off the top of his girlfriend’s head faces 21 years behind bars for first-degree assault — and he doesn't care what the judge thinks about it! At sentencing in Boone County Circuit Court, Zachary Gross mocked Judge Rick Brueggemann, saying of the vicious September 2015 attack: “I don’t feel responsible. I maintain my innocence. It is what it is. I’m not asking for your mercy. Just give me the 20. I don’t need a lecture.”
Gross insisted at sentencing that his dog, a pit bull named “Capone,” caused the injuries to his then-girlfriend, Marilyn Stanley, although expert testimony at his trial convinced the jury that Stanley’s injuries were caused by a sharp knife. “In anything he has said throughout this entire process, he hasn’t had any remorse for me,” Stanley told reporters outside the courtroom.
The judge also ordered that the pit bull be euthanized. Prosecutors said Stanley, who endured a half-dozen surgeries and will likely never grow hair atop her head again, faced Gross’s jealous rage when he saw a photo of her with her son — posted on Facebook. After the incident, which occurred in Gross’s trailer, the brute taunted his victim: “You’re bald now. Who’s going to want you, now?”
“It is very apparent you viewed not just the victim but other women as objects for your own gratification,” Brueggemann said, according to court records — citing text messages by Gross revealed at the trial. “Your disregard for the value of their lives… has led to where you stand today.”
But in addition to talking back to the judge, Gross picked up even more jail time for other bad behavior. In addition to the 20-year-max sentence for assault and an extra year for a probation violation, the judge hit Gross with another 34 days for making an obscene gesture at a TV-news camera during the trial.
