Oil Patch Murder Defendant To Be Sentenced Dec. 15
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A Colorado man who pleaded guilty in the killing of a teacher in the Northern Plains' oil patch faces sentencing on Dec. 15 in Montana.
Lester Van Waters Jr. of Parachute, Colorado pleaded guilty last year to a count of deliberate homicide by accountability. The case is before Montana District Judge Richard Simonton.
Prosecutors say Waters and accomplice Michael Spell killed 43-year-old Sidney High School teacher Sherry Arnold during an abduction attempt in 2012.
In exchange for Waters' guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop an attempted kidnapping charge against him. They recommended a sentence of 100 years in prison with 20 years suspended.
Spell pleaded guilty last month to deliberate homicide. His sentencing has not been scheduled.
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