The man convicted in October of kidnapping and murdering a New Mexico Mennonite woman was sentenced to life in prison two years after committing the crimes.
Air Force airman Mark Gooch was sentenced Jan. 19 by Coconino County Superior Court Judge Cathleen Brown Nichols. The Associated Press reported that she said the case of Sasha Krause’s death was one of the most senseless she had overseen. A motive was never revealed.
During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Gooch harbored disdain for Mennonites after growing up in a Wisconsin congregation but never becoming a member.
Krause’s parents, who live in Texas, did not attend the hearing where the sentence was announced. The AP reported they shared a letter and photos with Brown Nichols so the judge could see her as more than a victim.
“God will use her death for his glory, and I am convinced he has eternal purposes for Sasha that we can only guess about, from here,” they wrote.
Krause’s Farmington, N.M., church community addressed a letter to Gooch before the hearing. The AP reported it was unclear whether he saw it. The letter writers described his crimes as heinous but said they believed he felt remorse and urged him to repent.
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