A district judge will sentence Markus Kaarma Thursday for the charge of deliberate homicide in the April killing of 17-year-old Diren Dede.
Last December, shackled and wearing an orange prison uniform, Kaarma apologized to the Dede family the day after the verdict was delivered.
“We were so scared. No one was supposed to get hurt or killed. I can’t even imagine the pain you feel," Kaarma said.
A Missoula jury said Kaarma’s use of deadly force against the German exchange student was unjustified. Prosecutors convinced the jury that Kaarma was the aggressor when he fired four shotgun blasts into his garage, killing Dede after he tripped Kaarma’s alarm late one night. They said Kaarma deliberately lured an intruder to get revenge for a recent burglary in the same garage.
Kaarma’s defense said he was only trying to protect his family.
The defense is expected to file a motion for a new trial immediately before the sentencing hearing at 9:00 a.m. They say excessive media coverage made a fair trial in Missoula County impossible.
Kaarma could receive anywhere from 10 to 100 years in prison.
Staber sentenced
In a related story, a Missoula man who pleaded guilty to his role in the burglary that preceded the Dede shooting has been given a three-year deferred sentence.
A district judge sentenced 19-year-old Tristan Staber today for conspiracy to commit burglary and criminal trespass to vehicles.
Court records say Staber acted as a lookout while a 16-year-old took marijuana, wallets and a cellphone from Markus Kaarma’s garage, the same garage where Kaarma shot and killed Dede 10 days later.
The judge ordered Staber to complete a treatment program and pay $2,000 dollars in fines and restitution or face prison time.