PARSONS ? A Parsons man has been sentenced to just more than 21 years in prison for trying to hire someone to kill witnesses to a 1979 fatal shooting.

Robert L. Buffington Jr., 44, was sentenced Monday for criminal solicitation to commit first-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm.

The targets of the murder-for-hire plan, Greg and Regina Smith, were witnesses and targets of a crime Buffington committed more than 20 years ago.

On Feb. 17, 1979, Buffington was visiting a brother of Greg Smith at their home in Frontenac when he tried to rob Greg and his mother, Regina, at gunpoint.

The Smiths ran to a neighbor, Jerry Dennis, for help after Greg had been shot in the face with shotgun pellets. Buffington shot and killed Dennis before he was shot in the knee by Greg Smith, who was 13 at the time.

Regina Smith then held the disarmed and wounded Buffington until police arrived.

Buffington was convicted in late 1979 of aggravated battery and voluntary manslaughter and received five to 20 years in prison. He was paroled in August 1989, and his post-parole supervision ended in early 1999.

Prosecutors say after he was released, Buffington tried to hire a Parsons man to kill the Smiths. That man notified police, and Buffington was arrested on July 11, 2000.

The case was delayed several times while Buffington underwent a number of mental evaluations. He was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic, but tests indicated he was competent to stand trial.

Buffington pleaded guilty two days before his trial was to begin. During sentencing Monday, he asked to withdraw his plea because “he didn’t remember what he was doing.” Judge Robert Fleming denied that request.

Following the hearing, Greg Smith said he was relieved by the sentence. Smith said he and his mother believe that the county attorney and law enforcement officers saved their lives.

“That’s a bad man, there. For once, something good was done. Now we can relax for the next 20 years,” he said.