Rhonda Carlson, 48, is going away for life after admitting that she helped her bigamist husband plan the killing of his pregnant second wife, her unborn child and three relatives, in New Market, Alabama

Kristen Smallwood Henderson was nine months pregnant when she was killed six years go by her estranged husband, Christopher Henderson, despite a protection order that barred him from her parents’ home

On Aug 4, 2015, Henderson either stabbed or shot the five victims to death at their home and then set the house ablaze the infant and the eight-year-old still breathing

Smallwood, her unborn daughter, her 8-year-old son Clayton Chambers, as well as, her one-year-old nephew Eli Sokolowski and her mother, Carol Jean Smallwood were all killed in the attack

Carlson avoided death penalty in a deal with prosecutors in exchange for testifying against her husband, Christopher Henderson, prior to his trial

The 48-year-old after a plea deal testified for the prosecution – She admitted to helping plan the attack and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole

Henderson, 46, never divorced Carlson before marrying Smallwood who only found after she filed for divorce

He is said to have committed the mass murders after Smallwood filed for divorce, and finding out he was still married to his first wife Rhonda Carlson

On Aug 4, 2015, Henderson either stabbed or shot the five victims to death at their home and then set the house ablaze the infant and the eight-year-old still breathing

Henderson was convicted of 15 counts of capital murder and received the death penalty following the jury’s 11-1 vote on Oct. 14

Multiple murder accessory Rhonda Carlson avoided the death penalty in a deal with prosecutors in exchange for testifying against her husband, Christopher Henderson, prior to his quintuple-homicide and depraved arson trial that ended in his death sentence. 
Carlson, 48, from Alabama received a life sentence Wednesday for helping her bigamist husband plan the 2015 killings of Kristin Henderson, his estranged pregnant wife, her unborn child and three others.
She admitted to helping plan the attack and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
A jury in July convicted Henderson in the shooting and stabbing deaths of Kristin Smallwood, her unborn daughter, her 8-year-old son Clayton Chambers as well as her one-year-old nephew Eli Sokolowski and her mother, Carol Jean Smallwood.
The five bodies were found in a house that had been burned in August 2015, less than a week after Smallwood filed for a court order to keep Henderson away from her parent’s home. 
Henderson was sentenced to death earlier on October 14.

Henderson, 46, never divorced Carlson before entering what turned out to be a bigamous marriage with Kristin Smallwood. He is said to have committed the mass murders after Smallwood filed for divorce on finding out he was still married to his first wife, Rhonda Carlson.
Carlson admitted to helping plan the killings but denied participating in the slayings. 
She testified that Henderson had already attacked the five victims before she arrived at the New Market house where the murders took place.
Erin Atkins, Carlson’s attorney, discussed her client´s sentence with WHNT-TV Monday.
‘She certainly acknowledges and accepts responsibility for her portion and the crime, which is why we’ve agreed to a plea,’ Atkins said.
‘She acknowledges that she was involved, she acknowledges that she had a part to play and that she can be held legally responsible for the deaths based on Alabama law.’ 
As part of the plea deal, Carlson waived her right to a jury trial and separate sentencing hearing on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Henderson was convicted of 15 counts of capital murder and received the death penalty by Madison County Circuit Judge Chris Comer following the jury’s 11-1 vote on October 14.

Christopher Henderson, the man convicted of killing his estranged wife, her unborn child and three others six years ago in north Alabama, was sentenced to death October 14.
Henderson committed the murders with the help of his first wife Carlson, 48, who testified against her lover to avoid the death penalty in her own capital murder trial.

In 2015 Christopher Henderson illegally broke into his parents-in-laws’ home in New Market, Alabama and either stabbed or shot the five people he met there, to death, including infants and the unborn. Done with killing, he poured gasoline on the house and set it ablaze with at least two young victims, eight and one, still breathing. 
Autopsy reports revealed that Henderson shot his second wife Kristin Smallwood Henderson, who was nine months pregnant with the couple’s unborn daughter, in the neck and stabbed her several times.
He then cut the full-term female fetus from her body and stabbed it. Dr. Steven Dunton with the Alabama Department of Forensic Services said the autopsy showed the fetus had multiple sharp-force injuries.
According to Inside Edition, Kristen’s mother Carol Jean Smallwood was shot several times and stabbed in the eyes.
Kristen’s eight-year-old son Clayton Chambers, whose father was not Henderson, was also stabbed.
A medical examiner testified this week that Clayton was still alive when Henderson poured gasoline throughout the house and set it on fire. He died in the ensuing blaze. 
Kristen’s nephew, one-year-old Eli Sokolowski was stabbed many times, too, but his cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the autopsies. 

Henderson committed the murders with the help of his first wife Rhonda Carlson, 48, who testified against her lover to avoid the death penalty in her own capital murder trial, Inside Edition reported.
Carlson admitted to helping plan the killings but denied participating in the slayings. 
Carlson said that she and Henderson initially discussed keeping Kristin’s baby but she decided she did not want to be a mother again. Carlson and Henderson have a daughter together.
Henderson agreed, saying the baby ‘would just end up whining like her mom’.
Carlson will be sentenced to life in prison. 
The jury deliberated for a total of 14 hours over two days until they reached Henderson’s guilty verdict on all 15 capital murder charges. 
Henderson has been held without bond until today’s hearing. 
The judge also had the choice to sentence the killer to life in prison without parole, because Henderson was charged for the crime before lawmakers took away the option for judges to override the sentencing recommendation of jurors in capital cases. 

Speaking in court Christopher Henderson addressed the victims’ relatives and his own and said: ‘I’d like to give my deepest apologies to the family. 
‘This is an event that should’ve never happened. I’d also like to apologize to my mom and my daughter.’
Judge Comer said: ‘Mr Henderson…may God have mercy on your soul. May God provide peace to the families of this tragedy.’
Kristen’s sister Kelly Smallwood Sokolowski told the judge about the loss of her family members and only child, Eli.
She said: ‘My daddy passed away in September of last year and I had a dream and my daddy was holding Eli in that dream. I know that I will see them again.’
Kristen’s brother Keith Smallwood said the victims were good people. ‘These were people that were happy to be alive and part of a strong family that we all loved each other, so it’s been hard. 
‘But…we’ve been resolute because we know where they are and we know they’re smiling.’
Earlier in the trial Keith testified that her sister Kristen moved back to Alabama from Michigan and into Kristin’s parents’ home on St Clair Lane with her new husband and her eight-year-old son from a previous relationship.
The family lived there for several months but had relationship issues.
According to News 19 Henderson was kicked out of the house in June 2015 and the family changed the locks.
In July 2015 Henderson filed for divorce and Kristen filed for a protection order against Henderson later that month.

On July 31, she filed another notice to the court saying a divorce wasn’t necessary, according to court documents. Kristen had found out that her supposed husband was still married to Rhonda Carlson, and petitioned the court to withdraw the divorce based on the fact that her marriage was a sham.
Her husband was still married to his first wife and their marriage wouldn’t be legal. 
Christopher Henderson and Rhonda Carlson reportedly wed in February 2013. Henderson then married Kristen Smallwood in September 2014, but never divorced Carlson.
‘He has lied about everything since we met,’ she wrote in the filing. She was granted the order of protection based on her testimony that he had hit her. 
Less than a week after Kristen filed for a court order to keep Henderson away from the residence, the killer struck with the stabbings and arson on August 4, 2015.
It turned out Carson was on the ground floor in the planning of the heinous killings.
From the onset of the trial, defense attorney Bruce Gardner argued that Carlson was the one with the victims’ blood on her hands. 
Although home security footage showed Henderson wearing black gloves at the scene the day of the killings and house fire, Gardner said Carlson was the one who planned the murders and had the motive to do so.
The pair were still married, but on July 15, 2021, six years after his breakaway liaison, Rhonda Carlson turned on her husband and made a plea deal with prosecutors to testify for the prosecution. In exchange prosecutors agreed to drop the death penalty. 
Gardner described the deal prosecutors’ made with Carlson ‘a deal with the devil’.
Before the sentence was final, Gardner had also asked the jury to grant Henderson clemency, arguing it was not fair to put Henderson to death if Carlson who shared the same degree of culpability wouldn’t be given the same punishment.