Upchurch was sentenced to natural life for the murder of Paul Clifford.

A natural-life murder sentence plus consecutive counts is the court's judgment after trial. It is not an open accusation. On Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in Tucson, Arizona, Jack Upchurch was sentenced to natural life for first-degree murder in the death of Paul Clifford, with credit for 636 days served. The other terms run consecutive to that murder sentence.

KOLD's charge-by-charge list puts the first-degree murder sentence at natural life, with credit for 636 days served. Consecutive to that murder sentence, the reported terms are 10.5 years for armed robbery, 3.5 years for aggravated robbery, 10.5 years for kidnapping, 3.5 years for theft by means of transportation, 2.5 years for third-degree burglary, and 10.5 years for arson of an occupied structure. The same list includes 1 year for tampering with evidence with no time credit, 3.5 years for theft with no time credit, 2.5 years for burglary with no time credit, and 1 year for a separate tampering count with no time credit. KVOA summarized the judgment as natural life plus 21 years. The itemized consecutive terms are the list used here.

A jury convicted Upchurch on all charges before Monday's sentencing. Prosecutors and investigators said that on Christmas Eve 2024, Upchurch kidnapped and killed Clifford after Clifford came outside near his Redington home, also reported as Redington Pass, to help people who claimed car trouble. Clifford's body was found shot and burned next to a burning or smoldering truck. That account is what prosecutors and investigators put behind the charges the jury found. The natural-life term is the judgment on the murder conviction.

Elmer Smith and Wendy Scott were arrested after a SWAT operation. Both pleaded guilty to reduced charges in exchange for testifying against Upchurch. In August, Smith was sentenced to 7.25 years, and Scott was sentenced to six years of probation. Those August sentences are the judgments on the reduced charges they admitted. Upchurch's natural-life sentence, with the consecutive counts, is the judgment on the counts the jury found.