Police: Daughter meant to kill

7-16-2011 Indiana:

A Wayne County woman told investigators she intended to kill her father Friday when she used a flammable liquid, identified as "camper fuel," and a candle to light him on fire, court documents revealed Monday.

Nina M. Holbrook, 30, was officially charged Monday with murder, felony murder and two counts of arson (Class A felonies). She made her first appearance Monday in Wayne County Superior Court 1 and remains lodged in the Wayne County Jail without bond.

Nina Holbrook's father, Carl D. Holbrook, 50, of 10037 Chapel Road died at 7:21 p.m. Friday at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, after being airlifted to the facility. He was found badly burned at about 12:10 p.m. Friday on the porch of his residence by a man who was supposed to meet with him.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Carl Holbrook told the man who found him that Nina had set him on fire.

Nina Holbrook told investigators she got the fuel and took it to her room and poured some in a cup while her father was gone.

She said she also got a candle and a lighter and when her father returned home she lit the candle. She then called him into her bedroom, where she threw the fuel in his face and then put the candle to his chest, setting him on fire, the affidavit said.

Nina Holbrook told investigators she then climbed out her bedroom window and walked through a field and down the road, where she was spotted by her uncle, Harvey Holbrook.

The incident took place at the end of a lane on the south side of Chapel Road, between Clevenger and Hiser Station roads in Washington Township.

According to the affidavit, Harvey Holbrook told authorities when he stopped on the road to ask Nina what happened, she told him, "I torched him" and "I set him on fire."

"We are still interviewing people and still investigating this," Wayne County Sheriff Jeff Cappa said Monday when asked if Nina Holbrook provided investigators any motive for the crime. "We don't have anything to release at this time."

A plea of not guilty was entered by the judge for Nina Holbrook during her initial hearing Monday in Wayne County Superior Court 1, and Stephen Rabe was appointed as her public defender. Nina Holbrook's next court appearance will be 1:30 p.m. Sept. 8. Her trial has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Oct. 11.

If convicted, she would face between 45 and 65 years in prison for murder, where a person "knowingly or intentionally kills another human being," and felony murder, described as killing another in the act of an additional felony such as arson, burglary, rape or robbery.

She could also face between 20 and 50 years in prison for each of two counts of arson, and be fined up to $10,000 on each of the charges against her. ..Source.. by Robert Sullivan

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Daughter 'poured lighter fluid over her sex offender dad, set him on fire and left him to die'

A daughter poured a cup of lighter fluid over her sex offender dad and set him on fire before leaving his house while he burned to death, police said.

Nina Holbrook, 30, allegedly set alight dad Carl Holbrook, 50, of Wayne County, Indiana, before passing a neighbour and giving him a ‘thumbs-up’.

She allegedly told him to come inside his house and set about the horrific attack before telling her uncle what she had just done outside.

Mr Holbrook has been convicted of two sex crimes in 1995 and 2007, when he was jailed for criminal deviate behaviour, reported True Crime Report.

He was waiting outside his home last Friday for a visitor when Ms Holbrook asked him to come inside to discuss something.

But inside a bedroom she poured lighter fluid over his head and ignited it with a candle before he began to burn to death, police said.

She allegedly calmly left the house while he screamed, and bumped into her uncle Harvey Holbrook, whom Mr Holbrook had been waiting for.

She told her uncle: 'I torched him', reported the Palladium-Item.

He found Mr Holbrook with most of his clothes singed, before he was taken to a local hospital and died from his injuries soon after.

Ms Holbrook then bumped into her neighbour Kyle Carpenter and allegedly told him she had set her father on fire while smiling.

He is said to have asked her: 'Are you alright?' She allegedly smiled and replied: 'No sir, I'm fine. Thank you very much.'

Mr Carpenter claimed she then gave him a thumbs-up sign.

Police are yet to establish a motive in the killing. Ms Holbrook has been charged with felony murder and arson. She is being held without bond.

The exact nature of Mr Holbrook’s past sex crimes is not yet known but he was not a registered sex offender, according to Sheriff's Office records. ..Source.. by Mark Duell

Body found near stolen vehicle

No case has more people and events involved than this one (See below).

11-20-2007 Minnesota:

Body, Porsche both burned; man arrested

A suspected sex offender found dead and burned next to a flaming sports car north of Windom was living in Mankato before he was killed, according to the mother of a man who she said was arrested and jailed in Blue Earth County as a result of the murder investigation.

The death of 20-year-old Alberto Samilpa Jr. is being investigated by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Cottonwood County Sheriff’s Department, the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Department and other agencies, said Mike Mauer, Blue Earth County chief deputy.

Samilpa’s death was discovered after a family traveling north for the Thanksgiving holiday saw the car burning near the intersection of Highway 71 and Cottonwood County Road 3 and reported it to the Sheriff’s Department sometime around 1 a.m. Monday, authorities said.

The 1999 Porsche that was found burning next to Samilpa’s partially burned body had been stolen from a house north of Mankato. Another vehicle that had been stolen from the same Lime Valley Road house, a 2000 Lincoln Navigator, was found burning in Watonwan County at 5:17 a.m. Monday, or about four hours after the Porsche fire was reported, authorities said.

“It was the Porsche that was found at the murder scene,” said Doug Storey, Cottonwood County attorney. “Why an attempt was made to burn the body with the car, we don’t know.”

About 15 guns, cash and other items also were missing from the rural Mankato house when that incident was reported by the owners just before 9 p.m. Saturday, a Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Department report said.

Hans Paul Hottel, 20, formerly of Windom, was booked into the Blue Earth County Jail on a second-degree murder charge at 10:18 p.m. Monday, according to the jail roster. Capt. Rich Murry of the Sheriff’s Department said Hottel was being transported to Cottonwood County Tuesday night. Murry said he couldn’t comment about the reasons for Hottel’s arrest.

“At this point, our investigation is ongoing and in conjunction with the BCA,” Murry said.

Hottel’s mother, Lita Hottel of Windom, said her son’s arrest was connected to Samilpa’s death. She said her son, who volunteered to serve in the military in Iraq and recently returned from a tour there, lived with Samilpa and other roommates at an apartment in the immediate Mankato area.

“He was his friend and he was his roommate and he was trying to get him a job,” Lita Hottel said, describing her son’s relationship with Samilpa. “Hans was the only one who was arrested because the other ones involved are gone.”

Hans Hottel recently started working at Corporate Graphics in North Mankato and had applied to enroll at Minnesota State University, Lita Hottel said. He plans to start classes next semester if he’s released.

Samilpa was scheduled for trial next month in Nicollet County District Court for a felony charge of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and a gross misdemeanor charge of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct. The charges were filed on Oct. 17, 2006, two days after a Sleepy Eye woman reported he had raped her at a party at a rural residence about three miles north of North Mankato on Oct. 15, 2006.

About a week after he was charged, Samilpa was released on $25,000 bond. His trial was scheduled to start on Dec. 19 and service papers for several subpoenas that had been issued to potential witnesses for the trial were returned to Nicollet County Tuesday, according to court records.

The victim in that incident was at a party with a friend, also from Sleepy Eye, when she was approached by Samilpa, the criminal complaint said. Samilpa allegedly separated her from her friend, forced her into a car and raped her before leaving with a group of his friends.

She was able to identify Samilpa as the man who attacked her by looking at his picture in a Madelia High School yearbook, the criminal complaint said. ..more.. by Dan Nienaber, Free Press Staff Writer

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Witness reaches plea in '07 murder case

1-28-2009 Minnesota:

WINDOM — For his part in a 2007 murder that left 20-year-old Alberto Samilpa Jr. stabbed, shot and burned on a roadside north of Windom, Hans Paul Hottel will pay a fine of $3,000.

In exchange, Hottel, 21, has agreed to become a key witness against three other Mankato men who are now facing first-degree murder charges for the Cottonwood County killing. The men were scheduled to go to trial early this year for the murder, which is directly connected to a burglary near Mankato.

The trials were postponed after a grand jury handed down first-degree murder indictments. Those indictments wouldn’t have happened without Hottel’s cooperation, so it was in the county’s best interest to reach a plea agreement, said Douglas Storey, Cottonwood County attorney.

The agreement was worked out between Hottel’s attorney, Michael Kircher of St. James, and Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Alfred Zdrazil, who is assisting with the prosecution, Storey said.

“It was what the attorney general’s office felt they had to do,” Storey said. “Without someone at the scene who was involved, it was difficult to prove premeditation. We did what we felt we had to do to strengthen our case.”

Hottel was the first suspect arrested and charged after the Nov. 19, 2007, murder. Gerard Irving Holt, 23, Lionel Benavidez, 22, and Axel Rene Kramer, 21, all of Mankato, were arrested and charged later. Holt and Kramer were arrested after being spotted in a car parked at a hotel in Albert Lea. Benavidez was arrested in Texas.

Hottel was arrested in Mankato the same day as investigators found Samilpa’s body next to a burning Porsche 911 car off Highway 71 near Delft, a small community north of Windom. The 1999 sports car and a 2000 Lincoln Navigator, which was found burning in nearby Watonwan County, had both been stolen during the burglary of a Lime Valley Road residence north of Mankato two days earlier.

Hottel became a suspect after investigators learned he had used his credit card at a convenience store in St. James. A surveillance camera showed he used the card to pay for fuel pumped into the Porsche, Navigator and a car Hottel owned. When Hottel’s car was found in Mankato and searched, Samilpa’s wallet was found inside, court records said.

Interviews with Hottel’s roommates in Mankato eventually led to the arrests of the four suspects.

Hottel pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor charge of aiding an offender on Dec. 22. Prosecutors agreed to not request jail or prison time and have charges related to the Blue Earth County burglary dismissed, Storey said.

On Jan. 7, a grand jury was called in Windom to examine the remaining second-degree murder charges against Holt, Benavidez and Kramer. On Jan. 16, four days before Holt was scheduled to go to trial, all three men were indicted for first-degree premeditated murder. The second-degree murder charges, which allege there was intent to kill without premeditation, also remain for the three suspects.

New trial dates have not been set, but Hottel will likely be called as a witness when they do take place, Storey said.

“He is going to be testifying at the trial,” Storey said. “He will be an important witness.”

Both Storey and Kircher said they couldn’t comment on whether Hottel was called to testify before the grand jury. A grand jury indictment is required to file first-degree murder charges in Minnesota.

During the plea hearing, Hottel admitted to driving the three other men back to Mankato after Samilpa’s murder, Kircher said. Hottel also admitted to stopping with the others to burn the Navigator.

A second-degree murder charge that had been filed against Hottel was dismissed in May after Cottonwood County District Court Judge Bruce Gross ruled there wasn’t enough probable cause to justify the charge.

Hottel witnessed the murder, then went along with the others because he was concerned about his own safety, Kircher said.

Hottel also was charged with aiding and abetting the Blue Earth County burglary. Benavidez and Hottel’s 24-year-old brother, Lars, are also facing felony charges for the burglary, which also involved Samilpa, according to court records.

In addition to the two vehicles, a total of 21 handguns, rifles and shotguns; a diamond bracelet and other jewelry; electronics including televisions, DVD players and computers; ammunition; $150 in cash; and passports were allegedly stolen from the house. ..Source.. by Dan Nienaber

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Man shot in head after breaking clutch on hot Porsche

11-22-2007 Minnesota:

A stolen Porsche, an SUV and firearms led to a killing, questions and an arrest near Windom, Minn.

For breaking the clutch on a stolen Porsche he was driving, Alberto Samilpa Jr.'s conspirators in crime shot him four or five times in the head, stabbed him in the neck and set his body and the car ablaze on a rural highway early Monday.

"It's just sad to think that somebody would kill somebody for that," said Nick Anderson, Cottonwood County assistant county attorney.

Hans P. Hottel, 20, of Mankato has been arrested and charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding an offender, according to the county attorney's office.

Two other men have been charged via warrant but remained on the lam Wednesday night: Lionel Benavidez, 21, of LeCenter is charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding an offender.

Gerald Holt, 23, of Madison Lake is charged with second-degree murder. Holt is also known as Ivan Lopez and "Latin."

A fourth suspect, known only as "Alex," is implicated in the case but has not been arrested or charged, Anderson said.

According to the criminal complaints filed Wednesday:

The Porsche, a sport-utility vehicle and eight firearms were reported stolen from a Mankato home on Nov. 17. The suspects' roommate later told authorities that he saw Samilpa and Holt at their shared Mankato home with firearms and a television.

The next day, Samilpa, Holt, Hottel and others were at the residence, where they talked about moving the stolen vehicles, according to the charges. Hottel was supposed to pick up the five men after they stored the vehicles, Anderson said.

The group stopped to get gas and discovered that Samilpa had somehow broken the Porsche's clutch, angering Holt.

According to the charges, Holt, "Alex" and someone named "Blaze" (Benavidez's nickname) shot Samilpa and burned the car.

Samilpa's body was found at 1:39 a.m. Monday lying on the ground near the car on County Rd. 3 just east of U.S. Hwy. 71.

When Hottel was arrested Monday, he had small stains consistent with blood on his tennis shoes, sweatshirt and T-shirt, according to the complaint.

The county coroner told authorities that Samilpa, who was dead on the scene, was shot at least once in the back of the head and that the bullet came out his right eye socket. Authorities describe Holt as Hispanic, 5' 6" and 185 pounds with brown hair and eyes. Benavidez is Hispanic, 6 feet and 185 pounds with brown hair and eyes. ..Source.. by Chao Xiong , Star Tribune

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Murder victim's wallet found

12-10-2007:

MANKATO — A wallet with identification for a man found shot to death and burned in Cottonwood County Nov. 19 was discovered in a car confiscated in Mankato the following day, according to court documents filed this week in Blue Earth County.

The 1997 Oldsmobile Delta 88 was the same car 20-year-old Hans Hottel allegedly used to drive three other men to Madelia after Alberto Samilpa Jr. was killed and two stolen vehicles were burned. Hottel was arrested the same day as Samilpa’s murder in Mankato. The car was found parked at 429 Warren St. in Mankato, where investigators kept it under surveillance until three juveniles attempted to leave with it Nov. 20, according to a search warrant application.

Investigators had been hoping to catch 22-year-old Gerald Holt, one of three men now charged with murdering Samilpa, with the car. However, the three teens inside told them they had been instructed to pick Holt up at a nearby park. Holt ran from the area before he could be arrested, the affidavit said.

The car was towed to a Blue Earth County evidence garage, then transferred to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Forensic Science Laboratory in St. Paul. During a search, BCA agent Micheal Anderson found Samilpa’s wallet, blood stains, a gas can, .22-caliber cartridges, a laptop computer, jewelry and other items in the car, the affidavit said. Tread impressions also were taken from the car’s four tires.

Samilpa was found dead after travelers reported seeing a burning car off Highway 71 north of Windom at 1:30 a.m. Nov. 19. The flaming Porsche 911 found next to Samilpa’s burned body had been stolen from a house on Lime Valley Road north of Mankato on Nov. 17. A 2000 Lincoln Navigator, stolen during the same burglary, was found burning in Watonwan County about four hours later.

Hottel was arrested later that day after investigators identified him through a credit card that was used to buy gas for the Porsche, Navigator and Oldsmobile in St. James. The investigation shifted to Mankato after Hottel’s mother, Estralitta Hottel of Windom, told BCA investigators he was living there.

They later learned Hottel, Samilpa and Holt were living together in the Mankato apartment. A fourth roommate, Colt Bergendahl, told them his roommates and two other men had been planning to move the two stolen vehicles on Nov. 18, and Hottel was going to pick them up in his Oldsmobile so he could bring the men back to Mankato.

The two other men were later identified as 20-year-old Axel Rene Kramer of New Ulm and 21-year-old Lionel Benavidez of Le Center. Holt and Kramer have each been charged with second-degree murder. Hottel and Benavidez have each been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

Holt, Kramer and 18-year-old Aimee Jo Palmer, charged as an accomplice after the fact, were arrested in Albert Lea on Nov. 23. Benavidez was arrested in Crystal City, Texas, on Nov. 24.

During interviews with suspects and witnesses, investigators were told Samilpa was shot and stabbed after he broke the clutch on the Porsche. His body was burned along with the Porsche, then the Navigator was driven into Watonwan County and burned. The four men allegedly stopped at a Madelia apartment to get rid of bloody clothing before splitting up, court records said.

The affidavit filed Wednesday also includes a list of all the known property stolen from Richard Kakeldey’s residence at 23525 Lime Valley Road.

The items stolen included a total of 21 handguns, rifles and shotguns; a diamond bracelet and other jewelry; electronics including televisions, DVD players and computers; ammunition; $150 cash; and passports. ..Source.. by Dan Nienaber

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Gun stash linked to car theft-murder

12-13-2007 Minnesota:

MANKATO — Guns and other valuables stolen during a burglary related to a murder in Cottonwood County last month were found last week at a house in Mankato.

The house at 626 N. Fifth St. was searched Dec. 4 after Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Department Detective Paul Barta received a tip from Denise Rients, a probation officer with the county. Rients reported that one of her clients, 30-year-old Bradley Scott Junker, told her he had been asked to store a stolen Porsche at the house for people involved in the Nov. 17 burglary of a Lime Valley Road house north of Mankato.

The Porsche stolen during that burglary was found burning in Cottonwood County at about 1:30 a.m. Nov. 19. The body of 20-year-old Alberto Samilpa Jr. of Mankato was found next to the car. He had been shot in the head, stabbed in the throat and burned.

Investigators were no longer looking for the Porsche but reported finding at Junker’s house several handguns, ammunition, a 46-inch plasma television, computers and other items matching the description of items stolen in the burglary. They also found an address book with a business card for lawyer Richard Kakeldey, the owner of the house burglarized, court records said.

Samilpa, 22-year-old Gerald Holt and brothers Lars John Hottel, 23, and Hans Hottel, 20, were identified as suspects in the burglary, according to the search warrant affidavit citing probable cause to search Junker’s house.

Hans Hottel, Holt and two other men, 20-year-old Axel Kramer of New Ulm and 21-year-old Lionel Benavidez of Le Center, were identified as suspects in Samilpa’s murder. Kramer and Holt have been charged with second-degree murder. Hans Hottel and Benavidez have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. No charges had been filed as of Wednesday for the burglary.

On Dec. 4, Junker allegedly told Rients he had heard about Samilpa’s murder after being asked to store the Porsche. He told her he hadn’t heard back from the people involved in the burglary since the murder and was concerned about being hurt by the suspects or getting into trouble with police. Rients told Junker to report the information to the Sheriff’s Department just before 10 a.m. When the search warrant request was being made more than two hours later, no report had been made, Barta reported.

Junker’s house was searched about six hours after he met with Rients. Investigators originally planned to search a house across the street, but realized they had the wrong house when they called Junker on his cell phone shortly before executing the search.

Junker was released from prison a year ago after serving four years behind bars for selling methamphetamine in Cottonwood County. He was scheduled to remain on supervised release through Oct. 10, 2008. Junker is in the Blue Earth County Jail on a Minnesota Department of Corrections hold.

Investigators actually had a cellular telephone number that would have led them to Junker Nov. 23, the day Kramer and Holt were arrested in Albert Lea. Kramer told an agent with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension that Holt had taken his cell phone from him shortly before their arrest, the search warrant affidavit said. He told the agent Holt called someone named “Brad” and told him to “keep the guns as an early Christmas present.”

Kramer also told investigators Holt had removed the guns from a residence in the 100 block of State Street and moved them to another location in Mankato.

On Nov. 30, investigators received a search warrant to check the record of phone numbers on Kramer’s cell phone. A call to someone identified on the phone as “Brad Jay” was made at 3:37 p.m. on Nov. 23.

A subpoena requesting information about the number listed for “Brad Jay” was sent to Alltel, but the cell phone company had not responded before investigators received the report about Junker from Rients, court records said. Rients reported Junker’s cell phone number was the same as the one found on Kramer’s phone. ..Source.. by Dan Nienaber

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Another plea deal reached in murder after Porsche theft

1-4-2010 Minnesota:

Holt to serve 30 years in prison for 2007 case involving stolen, burned cars, murder of accomplice

WINDOM — Prosecutors have reached a plea deal with the second of four Mankato men arrested in 2007 after a fifth man was found shot to death and burned with a stolen Porsche.

Gerard Irving Holt, 24, will serve 30 years in prison according to a plea agreement reached in Cottonwood County District Court last week. He pleaded guilty to murdering 20-year-old Alberto Samilpa on Nov. 19, 2007, and leaving his body next to a burning Porsche 911 that had been stolen from a residence north of Mankato.

A Lincoln Navigator that had been stolen from the same residence was found burning in Watonwan County later the same day. Holt was arrested along with Hans Hottel, 22; Axel Rene Kramer, 22; and Lionel Benavidez, 23; after surveillance video from a St. James convenience store showed Hottel had used his credit card to purchase fuel for the stolen vehicles and his own car. When Hottel’s car was found in Mankato, it was searched and Samilpa’s wallet was found inside, court records said.

Witnesses later told investigators the suspects said Samilpa was stabbed, shot and burned because he had broken the clutch on the Porsche.

Hottel was arrested in Mankato shortly after his car was found. Holt and Kramer were arrested after being spotted in a car parked at an Albert Lea hotel. Benavidez was arrested in Texas. Authorities had launched a nationwide manhunt for the men after they became suspects in the murder.

In exchange for Holt’s guilty plea to a second-degree murder charge, prosecutors agreed to dismiss a second charge of first-degree murder. They also agreed not to oppose Holt’s request that he serve his sentence in an Indiana prison. His sentence will run concurrently to a sentence he will receive for a burglary conviction in Blue Earth County, which is related to the vehicle thefts.

Trials have not been scheduled for Kramer and Benavidez, who are still facing first-degree murder charges. Both men had originally been charged with second-degree murder, but the charges were increased to first-degree murder shortly after Hottel reached a plea deal in December 2008.

Hottel pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor charge of aiding an offender on Dec. 22, 2008, and was ordered to pay a $3,000 fine. In exchange for Hottel’s plea and promise to testify against the remaining defendants, prosecutors agreed to not request jail time.

Without Hottel’s cooperation, prosecutors would not have been able to get the grand jury indictments required by Minnesota law for the first-degree murder charges.

“Without someone at the scene who was involved, it was difficult to prove premeditation,” Cottonwood County Attorney Douglas Story said after Hottel’s plea. “We did what we felt we had to do to strengthen our case.”

Hottel was arrested on Nov. 2 in Anoka County for an unrelated incident. He has been charged in that county with third-degree criminal sexual conduct and obstruction of the legal process. A trial has been scheduled for June 28. ..Source.. by Dan Nienaber

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Holt gets 30 years for Samilpa murder

2-5-2010 Minnesota:

MANKATO — A former Mankato man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in a 2007 murder in Cottonwood County.

Gerard Irving Holt, 24, was sentenced Thursday for killing 20-year-old Alberto Samilpa and attempting to burn Samilpa’s body with a stolen Porsche.

Holt, who pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree murder on Dec. 28, is the second of five suspects arrested after the murder to enter a plea.

The Porsche 911 had been stolen from a residence north of Mankato. It was found burning with Samilpa’s body on a road near Delft, a small town north of Windom on Highway 71, on Nov. 19, 2007. A Lincoln Navigator stolen from the same residence was found burning in rural Watonwan County later that day.

Hans Hottel, 22, was arrested in Mankato after he was identified as the person who paid to fuel the stolen vehicles and his own car in St. James. Hottel, who testified he witnessed the murder, pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor charge of aiding an offender in December 2008. He promised to testify at the trials for Holt and the others in exchange for no jail time.

With Hottel’s testimony, prosecutors were able to charge Holt, 24-year-old Lionel Benavidez and 22-year-old Axel Rene Kramer with first-degree murder. Benavidez and Kramer are scheduled to go to trial in June.

A woman who was arrested outside a hotel in Albert Lea with Holt and Kramer, 20-year-old Aimee Jo Palmer of Eagle Lake, also is scheduled to go to trial in June for felony charges of aiding an offender. The three were arrested after investigators put out a statewide notice saying they were wanted for their connection to Samilpa’s murder.

Benavidez was arrested later in Texas after investigators found him there.

Holt’s sentence for the murder will run concurrent with a 38-month prison sentence he received in July in Blue Earth County for an aiding and abetting burglary conviction. That charge stemmed from the burglary where the burned vehicles were stolen along with jewelry, electronics and cash. ..Source.. by Dan Nienaber

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Convicted murderer returns to Mankato to face burglary charges

6-5-2010 Minnesota:

MANKATO — A Mankato man who was sentenced to 24 years in prison Monday for a November 2007 murder in Cottonwood County made a stop in Blue Earth County Tuesday before going to the correctional facility in St. Cloud.

At the request of Assistant Blue Earth County Attorney Chris Rovney, Axel Rene Kramer will be staying at the jail in Mankato for awhile.

Kramer, 23, was scheduled to go to trial this month for murdering 20-year-old Alberto Samilpa Jr. on Nov. 18, 2007. The trial was canceled in March after he reached a plea deal.

Samilpa’s body, which had been both shot and stabbed, was found north of Windom next to a Porsche sports car that had been stolen from a residence north of Mankato. A Lincoln Navigator stolen from the same residence also was found in nearby Watonwan County.

Four men were charged with murdering Samilpa after investigators learned Hans Paul Hottel of Mankato, who was 20 years old at the time, had used a credit card to purchase gas for his car and the two stolen vehicles. Hottel later pleaded guilty to reduced charges and was fined. He also became the witness prosecutors needed to file first-degree murder charges against the remaining three men, including Kramer.

All three men have since reached plea agreements that reduced the charge to second-degree murder again.

Kramer appeared in Blue Earth County District Court Tuesday for felony charges related to taking the vehicles and other valuables from the residence outside Mankato. Rovney asked District Court Judge George Harrelson to set bail for Kramer as a technicality. Rovney said Kramer had no chance of being released, but setting bail would keep him from being turned over to the Department of Corrections.

It’s cheaper for the state to keep Kramer in Blue Earth County than to keep him at the prison in St. Cloud, then transfer him to court hearings, Rovney said.

“It’s a roundabout way, but we’ll save the court money,” he said.

Rovney expects the case to be resolved quickly. Whatever sentence Kramer receives for the Mankato burglary will run concurrently with the prison sentence he received for Samilpa’s murder. That’s required by state law, Rovney said.

The remaining two men also have been sentenced for the murder.

Lionel Benavidez, 24, of Mankato was sentenced to 25 years in prison in May for the murder. He has not yet appeared for the burglary charges.

Gerard Irving Holt, 24, of Mankato pleaded guilty to the burglary charges about a year ago and was sentenced to three years in prison. He pleaded guilty to the murder charge in February and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The victims of the burglary are requesting restitution. One man has filed a claim saying he lost more than $41,000. Another victim estimated his loss at $2,000 for an insurance deductible, and his insurance company is estimating losses at nearly $54,000, court records said. ..Source.. by Dan Nienaber

Prosecutor: 'Thrill kill' led teens to murder, decapitate man

11-30-2007 Case Update


These handout photos show Alexander James Letkemann, left, and Jean Pierre Orlewicz, suspects in the murder of Daniel Sorenson. They are accused in the planning, ambush and slaying of 26-year-old Daniel Sorenson last Wednesday in a Canton Township garage owned by Orlewicz's grandfather, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. ( Courtesy Canton Police Department)
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NORTHVILLE TOWNSHIP -- In announcing the arrests of two teenagers today, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said they stabbed Daniel G. Sorensen to death, sawed off his head and used a blow torch to burn his body simply for the thrill.

"All of us have seen every type of crime available and why someone would kill for the thrill of it amazes us," Worthy said at a press conference at the Northville Township Police Department.

Sorensen, 26, of River Rouge, was found dead Thursday at the end of a yet-to-be-developed subdivision cul-de-sac in Northville Township off Ridge Road just south of Maybury State Park. His severed head was found Saturday in a section of Hines Park located in Dearborn Heights.

Jean Pierre Orlewicz, 17, of Plymouth and Alexander James Letkemann, 18, of Westland, were arraigned via video today in Romulus District Court on charges of premeditated murder, felony murder and mutilation of a corpse. The homicide charges carry sentences of up to life. A preliminary exam is set for Nov. 19 at 35th District Court in Plymouth.

Sorensen had owed Orlewicz "small amounts" that weren't a factor in the premeditated killing, Worthy said. The men were acquaintances, but she declined to further detail their relationship. The pair killed Sorensen in a Canton Township home owned by Orlewicz's grandfather, Worthy alleged.

"They lured him into a garage where a space had been prepared to kill him," Worth said.

Worthy said the pair stabbed Sorensen in the back multiple times, then sawed off his head. The garage had been prepared with a tarp on the floor and cleaning supplies standing by to clean up the blood. She called the killing "bone-chilling."

It is alleged the pair tried to conceal the identity of the victim by using a blow torch to burn his hands and feet. Gasoline was used to set the body on fire after it was dumped in the empty lot in Northville Township.

"I'm very shocked," said Jack Ryan, 59, out walking his dog Monday on the same block of Holly Lane in Canton Township where the slaying allegedly took place on Wednesday. Although he noticed police in the neighborhood this morning, he didn't see detectives and crime scene technicians collecting evidence from the garage near his home over the weekend.

"Nothing goes on in the neighborhood. At night, you don't hear anything," Ryan said about the working-class street where he has lived for 25 years.

He added that he didn't know the victim or his grandfather because his neighbors all work hard and keep to themselves.

Worthy said Sorensen's status as a sex offender had nothing to do with his death. His name is listed on registries in Michigan and Illinois for a 1998 incident in Illinois.

State Police forensic science technicians were able to identify Sorensen with one clear fingerprint. Tips from unnamed sources led police to find Sorensen's head and his pickup truck Friday night in the parking lot of a Meijer store at Newburgh and Warren in Westland.

Policed announced Friday night three persons of interest had been identified and arrest warrants were being sought. Police declined to confirm whether anyone was under arrest. Worthy said only Letkemann and Orlewicz are under arrest, but the investigation of the potential involvement of others continues.

"Investigators have worked tirelessly, virtually around the clock, gathering information, developing leads, collecting evidence, and executing search warrants," said John Werth, director of public safety for Northville Township.

"By putting the pieces together, we were able to determine who was responsible for this terrible act and where the death took place. Due to the incident's complexity and the numerous details that have arisen, no further information will be available until the preliminary examination."

With help from Michigan State Police, Livonia, River Rouge, Wayne County Sheriff's deputies and Canton and Plymouth townships, it took detectives just 34 hours to solve the case.

"As a result of a multi-jurisdictional collaborative effort by numerous law enforcement agencies the Canton Police were able to arrest and charge two individuals for this horrific and heinous crime," said Director of Public Safety, John Santomauro.

Northville Township Police needed just 17 hours to unravel the homicide of Cheryl Lynn Boeskool, 44, of Garden City, who found floating on Aug. 7 in a retention pond at Country Club Village on Haggerty near Six Mile. Police determined she had been had killed by multiple blows to her head and face and her body dumped in the pond.

Her boyfriend, Thomas Joseph Roe, 62, awaits trail after allegedly confessing to the slaying.

The killing is at least the second in Metro Detroit involving decapitations. In Macomb County, Stephen Grant faces an upcoming trial on allegations he strangled his wife in their Washington Township home and dismembered her body before strewing it in a nearby park. ..more.. by Doug Guthrie (734) 462-2674 or dguthrie@detnews.com.

See Background Articles for more information on this case!

Homeless man's death in Bangor ruled homicide

4-27-2006 Maine:
A homeless man whose body was found on fire beneath a Bangor bridge last month was the victim of a homicide, the state medical examiner said Thursday. Flames had enveloped the body of Trevor Sprague, 34, when he was found March 7 beneath a bridge where he went occasionally to drink alcohol. Initially, the medical examiner had withheld the cause of death at the request of prosecutors.

Authorities said it is too early to say whether the killing was a hate crime. "You don't want to jump to conclusions," Deputy Attorney General William Stokes said. "You don't want to make assumptions . . . that aren't warranted by the evidence and that may mislead you." Sprague's death raised concerns that he may have been targeted for his vulnerability as a homeless person with substance abuse and mental health problems or for his criminal history.

He was convicted last year for unlawful sexual contact with a 15-year-old boy and an assault stemming from the same incident. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, with all but five suspended. His probation was revoked Jan. 25 and he was ordered to serve the rest of his sentence. Sprague was twice convicted of indecent conduct in 2000, once for an incident near the bridge where his body was found, authorities said. ..more.. : by DAVID HENCH, Portland Press Herald Writer

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A year after man's burning body found: 'We'll get this one solved'

3-6-2007 Maine:

It’s a lonely, secluded spot.

Stand beneath the Harlow Street bridge on the banks of Kenduskeag Stream in Bangor and you can feel an eerie sense of emptiness, even as you hear the rhythm of cars and trucks crossing the metal grates overhead.

A year ago Wednesday, a passing driver spotted smoke that led to the burning body of 34-year-old Trevor Paul Sprague under the concrete-and-metal bridge downtown.

Sprague’s body was in flames when rescue crews arrived.

Police have determined that he was the victim of a homicide, but no one has been arrested in the case.

Authorities have disclosed few other facts, including whether the fire was the cause of Sprague’s death.

That the homicide remains unsolved after a year of investigation is frustrating for investigators as well as for Sprague’s friends and family.

"If you never had it happen, you can’t imagine" the pain, said Jeffery Sprague, 61, Trevor’s father, in a phone interview last week from his home in Machias. "It hasn’t been good. You think about it once in a while — quite often, actually, but you keep on going."

During last week’s telephone interview, Sprague said he was standing in his den with a picture of his murdered son in sight.

He said he immediately thought of his son a year ago when he read the Bangor Daily News story about the discovery of an unidentified burned body under a bridge.

"Knowing Trevor, it entered my mind," he said.

After Sprague put the newspaper down, a daughter who lives in Portland called to tell him about her brother.

"I guess that’s how everybody found out," he said.

Trevor Sprague’s body was burned so extensively that investigators had to use DNA from his father to positively identify him.

The horrifying circumstances of Trevor Sprague’s death jolted many in the city, especially homeless members of the community who knew him, said Mike Andrick, program director of the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter.

In the days after the discovery, people who monitor the area’s homeless made extra checks on people who sleep on the streets.

"[We’re] really like everyone else: We’re waiting patiently" for the crime to be solved, Andrick said recently.

Sprague’s death got groups and agencies that work with the homeless talking about how to address their problems, and it helped unify their efforts, Andrick said.

Beneath the bridge last week, past a low green steel beam, charred remains of paper products, food containers and old clothing could be seen, suggesting that somebody may have had a fire or two recently at the site to keep warm.

"It’s one of those cases that we just can’t get into a lot of the details," Lt. Tim Reid, who leads the Bangor Police Department’s detective division, said last week.

The department still gets new information and leads, Reid said.

Still, the transient nature of the city’s homeless people, who often have alcohol, drug or mental illness problems and are sometimes wary of police, is the biggest factor impeding the investigation, Reid said.

While Jeffery Sprague described his son as a friendly but sometimes reserved man who "wouldn’t hurt a flea," he acknowledged that his son showed signs of trouble.

Some of the homeless people his son associated with were a bad influence, he said.

"He drank quite a lot once he got in with that crowd," Sprague said.

He said he and other family members and friends often worried about his son’s safety.

"He’d say, ‘I’ll be all right. I’m a big guy,’" he said.

"He was just a friendly, easygoing guy," his father said. "Anyone who knew him — people at the [Bangor Area Homeless] Shelter would have told you that. If you didn’t know him, all you know is what you read in the paper."

Trevor Sprague suffered from mental health problems.

He was convicted of assault and unlawful sexual contact in 2005 after he improperly touched a teenage boy who was sitting in a park near the Bangor Public Library. He was convicted of two counts of indecent conduct in incidents that occurred in 2001, according to a prosecutor.

His mother, Sonia Olson of Lubec, was his legal guardian, his father said. She declined requests for an interview last week.

A month before his death, Trevor Sprague was at his father’s house in Machias.

Sometime after that, Trevor Sprague traveled to Bangor, then visited his mother in Florida before returning to Maine about a week and a half before he was killed, his father said.

From Florida he called his dad to talk about the weather, his favorite subject.

"He always wanted to tell you what the weather was," Jeffery Sprague said.

Asked why his son chose to live a transient lifestyle, his father said: "It was just Trevor. You had to know him. At Christmas dinner, he’d get up before the presents. He’d say, ‘I’ve got to go’ and off he’d go.

"I can’t really tell you why," his father said. "He always had a place to go, but he never stayed that long."

Lubec, a Washington County town, is like a closely knit sweater, and the death of Sprague hit the community hard, said family friend and Lubec resident Debra McConnell.

"We’re all linked together," she said. "Trevor was one of our children."

About 150 Lubec residents as well as people from Bangor joined Sprague’s family when his cremated remains were interred at Olson Cemetery in Lubec late last spring.

The bridge where Sprague’s body was found is one that recently retired Bangor Police Chief Don Winslow crossed numerous times — and minutes before the body’s discovery that March 2006 afternoon.

"I had just gotten on the highway when I heard the Fire Department call," Winslow said. "Fifteen minutes later, I got the call."

His department has pursued hundreds of leads in the past 12 months and will not stop until it can answer the question: Who killed Trevor Sprague?

"It is somewhat frustrating because it has been a year," Winslow said. "The longer it goes, the colder the case … and the more difficult it will be. I’m confident we’ll get this one solved eventually."

Winslow went to the Harlow Street bridge that evening a year ago, bending to get under the steel beam at the site that is inscribed with dates and people’s names. It includes the words of an old English law: "The rich as well as the poor are forbidden to sleep under bridges and steal bread." ..more.. by Bangor Daily News

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Burned man’s homicide still unsolved

3-7-2009 Maine:

Cold wind whips along the banks of Kenduskeag Stream in March, but beneath the low green steel beams of the Harlow Street Bridge, there is some refuge.

It’s underneath that downtown bridge that 34-year-old Trevor Paul Sprague, a homeless man from Lubec, was known to hang out and it also was where his body was found engulfed in flames three years ago Saturday.

A passing driver spotted smoke coming from underneath the concrete-and-metal bridge on March 7, 2006, and called the Fire Department. When crews arrived they found Sprague face-down with 2-foot-high flames shooting up off his 6-foot-7-inch body.

Sprague’s body was burned so extensively that investigators had to use DNA to positively identify him.

Police have determined that he was the victim of a homicide, but have disclosed few other facts about the grisly killing, including whether the fire was the cause of Sprague’s death.

Those facts are the key to finding the killer, Bangor police Sgt. Paul Edwards said Thursday.

No one has been arrested in the case, but more than a dozen have confessed, he said.

“We’ve had quite a few people who say they did this, and it proved to be not true,” the sergeant said. “Only the person that did it and the officers involved” know the details behind how Sprague was killed.

“We do not know who did this,” Edwards said. “We’re waiting for the right tip, for the right evidence.”

The unsolved homicide remains frustrating for investigators, who continue to work the cold case, as well as for Sprague’s friends and family.

“It’s been hard,” family friend Debra McConnell said Thursday by phone from her Lubec home. “There is no closure.”

Sonia Olson of Lubec, Sprague’s mother and his legal guardian, declined to talk about her son on Friday, but exasperation could be heard in her voice.

“I don’t want to talk to anybody,” she said. “Bye.”

A month before his death, Trevor Sprague visited his father, Jeffery Sprague, in Machias, the elder Sprague said during an interview two years ago.

Sometime after that trip to Machias, Trevor Sprague traveled to Bangor, then visited his mother in Florida before returning to Maine about a week and a half before he was killed, said his father, who described his son as a friendly but sometimes reserved man who “wouldn’t hurt a flea.”

Asked why his son chose to live a transient lifestyle, his father said: “It was just Trevor. He always had a place to go, but he never stayed that long.”

Jeffery Sprague also acknowledged that his son showed signs of trouble, and said that some of the homeless people his son associated with were a bad influence.

“He drank quite a lot once he got in with that crowd,” he said.

Bangor Area Homeless Shelter officials have said that Sprague stayed at the shelter on occasion, but as a loner who liked his seclusion, and that he was known to stay under the Harlow Street and other bridges.

The slain man also suffered from mental health problems and had a criminal history that included his conviction for assault and unlawful sexual contact in 2005 after he improperly touched a teenage boy who was sitting in a park near the Bangor Public Library. Sprague also was convicted of two counts of indecent conduct in incidents that occurred in 2001, according to a prosecutor.

There are three other unresolved homicides on the books in Bangor — one in 1997, one in 1988 and one in 1965 — but with murder there is no statute of limitations, and all cold cases typically remain open until solved.

“It’s not forgotten, that’s for sure,” Edwards said of Sprague’s death. “We’ll continue to review it, and review it again and again.”

The transient nature of the city’s homeless people, who often have alcohol, drug or mental illness problems and are sometimes wary of police, has been listed as a factor impeding the 3-year-old investigation.

While the initial intensity of the investigation has slowed, Detective Brent Beaulieu is assigned to the case and “he continues to get leads,” Edwards said. “The file just keeps getting thicker and thicker.”

Investigators have pursued hundreds of leads over the last three years, but are still open to more, the sergeant said.

“We’ll take any rumors or information people have,” he said. “That’s what we do. It’s a big puzzle. We’re just waiting for the right piece” to complete the puzzle and find the killer.

About 150 Lubec residents as well as people from Bangor joined Sprague’s family when his cremated remains were interred at Olson Cemetery in Lubec in the spring of 2006.

In Lubec, a small Washington County town, everybody knows everybody else and “Trevor was one of our children,” McConnell has said. The horrifying circumstances behind his death hit the community hard, she said.

“We’re all still very sad,” she said. ..News Source.. by Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN Staff BANGOR, Maine

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Bangor Police Release New Info On Cold Case Homicide

3-8-2009 Maine:

BANGOR (NEWS CENTER) -- Three years after the body of a homeless man from Lubec was found burning beneath a bridge in Bangor -- police are releasing new facts about the case.

Fire crews arrived at the scene on March 7, 2006 to find 2-foot flames shooting up from the body of 34-year old Trevor Paul Sprague.

Sprague's body was burned so badly investigators had to use DNA to positively identify him.

Although the case has been declared a homicide, police haven't yet determined whether the fire was the cause of Sprague's death.

At this point - no arrests have been made, though Sgt. Paul Edwards says more than a dozen people have confessed to the killing. None of the confessions have turned out to be true.

Many still question, whether Sprague's death was part of a hate crime. Sprague was openly gay and a convicted sex offender. ..News Source.. by Amanda Hill

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Man pleads not guilty to setting transient on fire 5 years ago

6-22-2011 Maine:

BANGOR, Maine — The South Dakota inmate charged with setting a homeless man on fire along the Kenduskeag Stream more than five years ago pleaded not guilty to intentional or knowing murder Wednesday morning at the Penobscot Judicial Center.

Kenneth John Bruning, 25, of Rapid City, S.D., is charged in the death of Trevor Sprague, 34, of Lubec in March 2006.

A trial date has not been set.

Sprague’s mother, Sonia Olson, and her husband, George Olson, both of Lubec, attended the arraignment but declined to speak to reporters.

Bruning, a South Dakota native and member of the Lakota Indian tribe, waived a bail hearing.

Last month he waived extradition from South Dakota, where he was serving a two-year sentence for burglary and possession of methamphetamine, according to his attorney, Jeffrey Silverstein of Bangor.

The time he is held at the Penobscot County Jail awaiting trial on the murder charge will be credited toward his South Dakota sentence, Silverstein said outside the courthouse after the arraignment.

Silverstein said his client may have mental health problems and it was possible Bruning’s plea would be changed to not criminally responsible by reason of insanity.

“Mr. Bruning has not made any admission or confession,” the attorney told reporters. “I understand there may be forensic evidence that indicates he was at the scene [of Sprague’s death].”

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson declined Wednesday to comment on the case.

Although police have not said what led them to Bruning, it appears that once convicted of a felony in South Dakota, his DNA was placed in a national database. It’s possible that DNA from the crime scene in Maine matched Bruning’s DNA once it was in the database.

Maine collects DNA from individuals convicted of felonies but not misdemeanors.

In October 2009 in Bangor District Court, Bruning was convicted of a misdemeanor assault that occurred at what is now the Hope House, a homeless shelter near the University of Maine at Augusta, Bangor campus. The assault took place two weeks after Sprague’s death, according to previously published reports.

In addition to the murder charge, Bruning is facing a local charge of failure to pay the for fine the assault.

Bruning was returned to Maine late Friday night and taken to the Penobscot County Jail by two Bangor police detectives.

Sprague’s body was found face down and on fire under the Harlow Street Bridge on March 7, 2006. The 34-year-old Lubec native and Bangor transient was known to camp along the Kenduskeag Stream.

Details about the circumstances surrounding Sprague’s death and what led investigators to Bruning have not been released.

Bangor police confirmed last year that Bruning was a member of Bangor’s transient population when Sprague was killed. ..Source.. by Judy Harrison, BDN Staff

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Maine trials worth watching in 2012

1-6-2012 Maine:

State v. Kenneth Bruning

Trevor Sprague’s death was on the list of unsolved homicides for nearly five years before Kenneth John Bruning, 26, of Rapid City, S.D., was charged in November 2010 in connection with the death. Sprague’s body was found face down and on fire under the Harlow Street Bridge in Bangor on March 7, 2006. The 34-year-old Lubec native and Bangor transient was known to camp along the Kenduskeag Stream. Police have not released information about how the two men might have known each other or what led investigators to Bruning, who was serving a sentence in a South Dakota prison when he was arrested. He was returned to Maine in June 2011. In most cases, the circumstances surrounding the crime and the investigation have been made public. Bruning’s trial, which has not been set but could be held as early as July at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor, finally may reveal what happened to Sprague. ..Source.. by Judy Harrison, BDN Staff

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Man gets seven years for killing homeless man (Former Sex Offender) in Bangor

6-10-2012 Maine:

BANGOR, Maine — The South Dakota man charged with slaying and setting ablaze a local homeless man camping along the Kenduskeag Stream six years ago was sentenced Friday at the Penobscot Judicial Center to 15 years with all but seven years suspended for manslaughter.

Kenneth John Bruning, 26, of Rapid City, S.D., also was sentenced to four years of probation in the death of Trevor Sprague, 34, who was homeless at the time of his death.

In exchange for pleading guilty to manslaughter, the murder charge against Bruning was dismissed.

Bangor police confirmed last year that Bruning also was a member of Bangor’s transient population when Sprague was killed.

Information about how Sprague died was made public for the first time during Friday’s 45-minute hearing before Superior Court Justice William Anderson.

The Lubec native died of strangulation and then was set on fire, Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson said. The prosecutor said that DNA obtained from blood found on one of Sprague’s shoes matched a sample of DNA taken from Bruning. DNA from droplets found in a trail of blood that led from the scene toward the Intown Plaza at the intersection of Kenduskeag Avenue and Harlow Street also matched Bruning’s DNA.

Although Benson said that Bruning’s DNA was matched to DNA from blood found at the crime scene in 2010, it appears that Bruning’s DNA was not entered into a national FBI database until after he was convicted of a felony in South Dakota.

He was serving a two-year sentence for burglary and possession of methamphetamine in South Dakota when he was interviewed by Bangor police in summer 2010. He admitted knowing Sprague but denied harming him, Benson said.

Bruning was indicted in November 2010 by the Penobscot County grand jury for murder. He was returned to Maine the following June and pleaded not guilty to the charge.

On Friday, Bruning waived indictment, pleaded guilty to what is called an information and entered an Alford plea, named for the U.S. Supreme Court case North Carolina v. Alford decided in 1970. It is “a guilty plea that a defendant enters as part of a plea bargain, without actually admitting guilt,” according to Black’s Law Dictionary.

The defendant did not address the judge but the victim’s younger sister, Terry did. Struggling to control her emotions, she cried as she read a statement she said was the result of many drafts.

In one, she criticized the defendant “because he does not have the courage to take responsibility for my brother’s death and plead guilty to murder. But I decided that the amount of time he serves will not bring my brother back.

“I hope he understands what he did wrong and regrets the pain he has caused me, my family and his own,” she said. “I hope the defendant makes changes in his life and takes advantage of this tremendous opportunity he’s been granted and turns his life around.”

By pleading guilty to the lesser charge, Bruning admitted that with the evidence the state had, a jury could find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of manslaughter. He did not, however, admit that he killed Sprague or set him on fire.

Sprague’s body was found face down and on fire under the Harlow Street Bridge on March 7, 2006. The Lubec native and Bangor transient was known to camp along the Kenduskeag Stream.

Bruning’s trial on the murder charge had been scheduled to begin July 30 at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor.

Both Benson and defense attorney Jeffrey Silverstein of Bangor told Anderson that they worked out the plea agreement to avoid going to trial and risking a verdict in the other side’s favor. The judge accepted the plea agreement and imposed the recommended sentence but called Sprague’s death “a horrendous and horrible crime.”

If convicted of murder, Bruning would have faced a sentence of between 25 years and life. The maximum sentence for a manslaughter conviction is 30 years.

In October 2009 in Bangor District Court, Bruning was convicted of a misdemeanor assault that occurred at what is now the Hope House, a homeless shelter near the University of Maine at Augusta, Bangor campus. The assault took place two weeks after Sprague’s death, according to previously published reports.

In addition to the murder charge, Bruning faced a local charge of failure to pay the fine for the assault.

Anderson said he would have to pay those fines while on probation for the manslaughter charge.

He has been held without bail at the Penobscot County Jail since being returned to Maine from South Dakota nearly a year ago. That time is expected to be credited to his manslaughter sentence. ..Source.. by Judy Harrison, BDN Staff