Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Stephanie Smith was given the maximum prison term for her role in the July 23 beating death of a Warsaw man.
Smith, 27, of Pierceton, was sentenced Monday in Whitley Circuit Court to eight years in prison after pleading guilty last month to assisting in the murder of Donald Sundheimer, 62, of Warsaw.
She pleaded guilty to the Class C felony charge vs. the original charge against her of aiding in an armed robbery, a Class A felony punishable by a maximum of 50 years in prison. Whitley County Prosecutor John Whiteleather amended the charge against Smith because he didn't think the evidence would support the robbery charge.
Sundheimer's body was found in a cornfield in Whitley County several weeks after Smith's boyfriend, Eugene Nowak of Pierceton, allegedly beat Sundheimer to death with a tire iron.
Nowak is awaiting trial in Whitley County on charges of murder and felony murder.
Sundheimer was last seen July 23 and he was reported missing by a family member on July 28. Smith led police to Sundheimer's body Aug. 16.
The three reportedly were en route to Fort Wayne in two separate vehicles on July 23 when the murder occurred. Smith and Nowak accompanied Sundheimer to several automatic teller machines to withdraw funds from his bank accounts prior to the trio heading to Fort Wayne. Smith was driving Sundheimer's car and he was a passenger, with Nowak in a vehicle behind them, when Nowak reportedly motioned for Smith to pull over. That is when Nowak allegedly attacked Sundheimer.
During the investigation, Smith told police that Nowak struck Sundheimer in the head at least six times.
Although Smith did not speak on her own behalf during Monday's court hearing, her attorney, Steve Hearn, told the court that she didn't come forward with the information about Sundheimer sooner because she feared Nowak.
Smith reportedly didn't know the murder or robbery were going to take place, but did admit helping get rid of Sundheimer's vehicle, which was found abandoned about seven miles from the murder scene.
