UPDATE: Dehart, Woody likely to be imprisoned for rest of their lives.
October 27, 2016 at 6:02 p.m.
By Michael [email protected]
Kosciusko County Circuit Judge Michael Reed sentenced Brandon Woody, 24, to 120 years and Kyle Dehart, 24, to 110 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections Wednesday morning for shooting a Syracuse couple in?February 2015.
On Oct. 7, Woody and Dehart were found guilty of two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of Tara Thornburg, 23, and Joshua Knisley, 19. Dehart also was convicted of obstruction of justice.
Friends and family of the victims cheered in the courtroom as Reed announced the sentence.
Woody was sentenced to 60 years on each count to be served consecutively. Dehart was sentenced to 55 years on each count to be served consecutively. He also was sentenced to one year on the obstruction charge to be served concurrent with the murder charges.
Rhonda Bickel, Knisley’s mother, took the stand during both sentencings.
“Josh was my whole life, my whole world,” she said. She testified she had struggled to have children for seven years before she gave birth to Knisley. Knisley was her only child.
“You shot him in the back of the head execution style while he was sleeping,” she said. “What kind of animal does that?”
Reed said the damage Dehart and Woody did could never be repaired.
“Two young people lost their lives because you didn’t want to pay for a small amount of marijuana,” he said. “You can’t make sense out of a senseless act.”
The failure to impose consecutive sentences would “demean one of the lives lost,” Reed said.
Reed pointed to Woody and Dehart’s prior criminal record as factors in the sentence.
Dehart and Woody continued to maintain their innocence during the pre-sentence investigation, Reed said.
“No matter what anyone says, I am definitely innocent and did not commit this crime,” Woody said at the hearing.
Dehart didn’t speak during his sentencing.
Reed said the denial showed the two had no remorse for their crime.
During the trial, Kosciusko?County Prosecutor Dan Hampton showed police body cam footage and played a tape of the 911 call of Thornburg, suffering a gunshot wound to the head, identifying Woody as the man who shot her.
“Please help me. Brandon Woody shot my boyfriend and knocked me out,” she said on the 911 call.
During a press conference after the sentencing, Hampton said the body cam footage allowed Thornburg’s testimony to be admitted into evidence even though she died the next day.
“That testimony was pinnacle to the case,” he said.
Indiana sentencing guidelines require Woody and Dehart to serve 75 percent of their sentence before they are eligible for parole.
“We will not have Brandon Woody and Kyle Dehart in our community ever again,” Hampton said.
Dehart and Woody both said in court they intend to appeal the case.
A public defender will be appointed to represent the men on appeal.
Police say Dehart, Woody and a third man,?Thomas Hursey, went over to Thornburg’s residence to steal her marijuana.
Hursey was a witness against Woody and Dehart.
Thornburg took the men upstairs where she placed the pot in a bag and handed it to Woody. When Thornburg asked about payment for the pot, an argument ensued in which Woody shot Thornburg and then Knisley, Hursey testified.
Knisley was killed instantly and Thornburg died the next day at a Fort Wayne Hospital, according to coroner Michael Wilson.
Hursey testified that when they were fleeing from the scene, Dehart tossed his shoes out the window of the car. He said Woody dumped the gun in a near by garbage can and then the men returned to Dehart’s residence where they burned the clothes and other items used in the slayings. The gun was never recovered by law enforcement. The shoes were found near the Dehart residence. Ashlyn Shepard, the mother of Dehart’s child, testified that she had the seen the shoes in Dehart’s house.
Hursey is charged with two counts of murder, and his case is still pending.
Shepard is charged with obstruction of justice in connection with the murder.
Kyle Dehart’s mother, Joan?Dehart, is charged with assisting a criminal in connection with the incident.
Shepard, Joan Dehart and Hursey all have pre-trial conferences scheduled for Nov. 7. Hampton declined to comment on the pending cases.
Kosciusko County Circuit Judge Michael Reed sentenced Brandon Woody, 24, to 120 years and Kyle Dehart, 24, to 110 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections Wednesday morning for shooting a Syracuse couple in?February 2015.
On Oct. 7, Woody and Dehart were found guilty of two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of Tara Thornburg, 23, and Joshua Knisley, 19. Dehart also was convicted of obstruction of justice.
Friends and family of the victims cheered in the courtroom as Reed announced the sentence.
Woody was sentenced to 60 years on each count to be served consecutively. Dehart was sentenced to 55 years on each count to be served consecutively. He also was sentenced to one year on the obstruction charge to be served concurrent with the murder charges.
Rhonda Bickel, Knisley’s mother, took the stand during both sentencings.
“Josh was my whole life, my whole world,” she said. She testified she had struggled to have children for seven years before she gave birth to Knisley. Knisley was her only child.
“You shot him in the back of the head execution style while he was sleeping,” she said. “What kind of animal does that?”
Reed said the damage Dehart and Woody did could never be repaired.
“Two young people lost their lives because you didn’t want to pay for a small amount of marijuana,” he said. “You can’t make sense out of a senseless act.”
The failure to impose consecutive sentences would “demean one of the lives lost,” Reed said.
Reed pointed to Woody and Dehart’s prior criminal record as factors in the sentence.
Dehart and Woody continued to maintain their innocence during the pre-sentence investigation, Reed said.
“No matter what anyone says, I am definitely innocent and did not commit this crime,” Woody said at the hearing.
Dehart didn’t speak during his sentencing.
Reed said the denial showed the two had no remorse for their crime.
During the trial, Kosciusko?County Prosecutor Dan Hampton showed police body cam footage and played a tape of the 911 call of Thornburg, suffering a gunshot wound to the head, identifying Woody as the man who shot her.
“Please help me. Brandon Woody shot my boyfriend and knocked me out,” she said on the 911 call.
During a press conference after the sentencing, Hampton said the body cam footage allowed Thornburg’s testimony to be admitted into evidence even though she died the next day.
“That testimony was pinnacle to the case,” he said.
Indiana sentencing guidelines require Woody and Dehart to serve 75 percent of their sentence before they are eligible for parole.
“We will not have Brandon Woody and Kyle Dehart in our community ever again,” Hampton said.
Dehart and Woody both said in court they intend to appeal the case.
A public defender will be appointed to represent the men on appeal.
Police say Dehart, Woody and a third man,?Thomas Hursey, went over to Thornburg’s residence to steal her marijuana.
Hursey was a witness against Woody and Dehart.
Thornburg took the men upstairs where she placed the pot in a bag and handed it to Woody. When Thornburg asked about payment for the pot, an argument ensued in which Woody shot Thornburg and then Knisley, Hursey testified.
Knisley was killed instantly and Thornburg died the next day at a Fort Wayne Hospital, according to coroner Michael Wilson.
Hursey testified that when they were fleeing from the scene, Dehart tossed his shoes out the window of the car. He said Woody dumped the gun in a near by garbage can and then the men returned to Dehart’s residence where they burned the clothes and other items used in the slayings. The gun was never recovered by law enforcement. The shoes were found near the Dehart residence. Ashlyn Shepard, the mother of Dehart’s child, testified that she had the seen the shoes in Dehart’s house.
Hursey is charged with two counts of murder, and his case is still pending.
Shepard is charged with obstruction of justice in connection with the murder.
Kyle Dehart’s mother, Joan?Dehart, is charged with assisting a criminal in connection with the incident.
Shepard, Joan Dehart and Hursey all have pre-trial conferences scheduled for Nov. 7. Hampton declined to comment on the pending cases.
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