Montana homeowner gets 70 years for killing German exchange student
A Montana homeowner who was found guilty of deliberate homicide last year for fatally shooting an unarmed 17-year-old German exchange student who entered his garage was sentenced on Thursday to 70 years in prison.
Markus Kaarma, 30, will not be eligible for parole for the first 20 years of his sentence.
He was convicted in December of killing Diren Dede of Hamburg in a trial that tested Montana's so-called "castle doctrine" self-defense law, which allows deadly force against a home invasion if a person reasonably believes it is necessary to prevent an assault.
