The State charged Stockelman with murder, child molesting as a class A felony, and criminal confinement. It requested the death penalty, alleging the victims age as the aggravating circumstance.
A year or so later, Stockelman and the State entered into a plea bargain. Stockelman agreed to plead guilty to murder and child molesting and to waive his right to have the State submit aggravating circumstances to a jury. The State agreed to drop the death penalty and dismiss the confinement charge. The sentencing was thus left to the court alone.
After a hearing involving several witnesses, it imposed life without parole for the murder, followed by thirty years for child molesting.
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