Man gets 3 life sentences for 1983 League City triple murder

LEAGUE CITY, Texas (KTRK) -- Nearly 40 years after a triple murder rocked League City, the convicted killer has learned his fate.

Jesse Dean Kersh will serve three life sentences for the 1983 murders of Thomas Earl McGraw, Beth Yvette Wilburn, and James Oatis.

In November 1983, Wilburn, a co-owner of Corvette Concepts; McGraw, an employee; and Oatis, who was doing electrical work, were all killed inside the business. Kersh allegedly also worked there.

Wilburn reportedly had 114 stab wounds and four gunshot wounds. Oatis had 10 gunshot wounds. McGraw was shot seven times and stabbed 15 times.

The case, which was dubbed the Corvette Concepts murders, went cold for 30 years. Then, in 2016, Kersh was arrested less than a mile from his home in Spring outside a taco stand. Kersh had apparently always been on police radar and was interviewed extensively decades ago, but investigators later found forensic evidence that linked him to the crime.

On May 26, 2023, Kersh was found guilty of the slayings.

On top of his sentencing, a judge also issued a $10,000 fine for Wilburn's murder.