The Verdict is in regarding the case of CRAIGSLIST KILLER Michael John Anderson, who has been found guilty of the murder of KATHERINE ANN OLSON.It was a five-hour jury decision that ended in the life prison sentence for a man convicted of murdering victim Katherine Ann Olson. Anderson, dubbed the 'CRAIGSLIST KILLER', will serve a life sentence without parole.
Late last night the jury returned the verdict of guilty on the charges of first-degree murder, 2nd-degree murder and 2nd-degree manslaughter. Sentencing is scheduled for 10:30 Minnesota time today and the 1st-degree murder charge carries a mandatory life sentence.
Katherine Olson is the unfortunate victim of the "Craigslist killer" in Minneapolis. Katherine just responded to a babysitting job offer she looked up on Craigslist website. After that surreptitiously luring her into his home, Michael Anderson then shot Katherine Olson in the back. Katherine was just 24 years old then when the police found her lifeless body inside a car trunk.
In 1 April 2009, the verdict on Michael Anderson was finally released and he is sentenced to 20 years with no bail. Anderson's lawyer also informed Katherine Olson's family that his client (Anderson) is remorseful and he is in "deepest regret" about what happened.
Michael John Anderson will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing the woman he lured to his house with a fake baby-sitting ad on Craigslist, a judge ordered Wednesday.
District Judge Mary Theisen handed down the 20-year-old Anderson's sentence — required by law for first-degree murder convictions — at the end of a hearing in which Katherine Ann Olson's family gave tearful testimony about how the death of Olson, 24, has affected them.
Anderson, clad in a green jumpsuit instead of the blue suit he wore during his seven-day trial at the Scott County courthouse, stood motionless as the sentence was announced. When asked if he had anything to say, he said no and instead had his attorney, Alan Margoles, read a one-sentence statement.
"He expresses his deepest regret for his actions," Margoles said.
A jury found Anderson guilty of first- and second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter late Tuesday night.
Anderson's attorneys continued to press that their client suffers from Asperger's syndrome — a form of autism — and that jurors would have seen the shooting as accidental if that information was included in the trial. Theisen barred expert testimony on the syndrome during a pretrial hearing.
Prosecutors all along insisted Anderson tricked Olson into coming to his Savage house Oct. 25, 2007, to kill her.
Olson's family said the death of their daughter and sister would forever mar their lives — but
Anderson's influence over them was something they had to let go of.
"After 24 years of living with and shaping Katherine, it was thrilling to me to see how her life was unfolding," Olson's father, Rolf Olson, told the packed courtroom. "Mr. Anderson stopped all of that."
The family brought in four boxes and a milk crate filled with letters wishing them well "from all seven continents," Rolf Olson said.
The father, a Lutheran pastor, said he believed God will help him forgive Anderson, but "in this situation, I don't sense that there is any hurry."
Sarah Richter, Olson's older sister, said her sleep is nightly interrupted by horrible pictures from the murder.
"For the past 17 months, I've been haunted by images. I'm haunted by Anderson's face, by Katherine's screams, the gun, her body in the trunk and, now, the real bloody images of my sister," she said. "When will I sleep again? I'm a walking ad for Tylenol P.M." At the end of her statement, she looked directly at Anderson.
"I doubt Anderson will ever know what this feels like," she said. "Regardless, it is certainly not funny."
Olson's younger brother, Karl, said he always leaned on his sister for support and that she smoothed the way for him through high school, college and, he had hoped, into the real world after graduation. Her death sent him spinning.
"It has taken more than a year to put my head on straight and step out into the big, wide world," he said.
Olson's mother, Nancy, read from a book her daughter had put together in sixth grade.
In the chapter "Future Me," Olson wrote, "I want to be either an actress or a chorale director."
She had plans to marry a tall man with dark hair and a good sense of humor and to raise "three kids, one with curly hair."
"Katherine's dreams were stolen from her," her mother said.
Nancy Olson said she struggled throughout the trial not to "leap over these benches" and inflict on Anderson the same hurt he inflicted on her daughter.
"I refuse to carry him around with me," she said of Anderson's influence on her life. "He is air to me. Others will have to pray for him."
Theisen, a stern presence on the bench throughout the trial, struggled to stay composed as she addressed the courtroom.
"Katherine's life, and now her death, has impacted the entire community," she said.
She thanked the attorneys for their work, the jury for its diligence and the Olsons for respecting the legal process by limiting their remarks to the media.
She expressed her sympathies to Anderson's parents, Steven and Barbara, too.
"Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, I feel so sad for you, and I have through the trial," she said. "I can't imagine what it would be like to live in a house where your son committed such a horrible act."
But she had no soft words for the convicted murderer.
"You have shown no remorse or empathy, and I have no sympathy for you or your predicament," she said. "You are completely responsible for your actions."
Theisen said she believed Anderson shot Olson as she was running from him, and the shooting was "an act of cowardice."
She told Anderson he'd have his prison wages garnished to pay back the $6,500 for Olson's funeral and then sentenced him to life in prison.
Outside the courtroom, the Olsons hugged and thanked the police officers and jurors who had participated in the investigation and trial of their daughter's death.
To the jurors, Rolf Olson said, "What a chore for you guys."
One of them, Tim Peterson, came to the sentencing with five other jurors to get closure.
He said the bulk of evidence "spoke to all of us," and Margoles didn't plant any seeds of reasonable doubt in jurors' minds.
Margoles leaned in close to Rolf Olson after the hearing.
"I'd like to express my condolences," he said.
The father nodded.
Anderson's parents avoided the crowd and left the building through a back stairwell.
The conviction automatically will be appealed to the state Supreme Court. Anderson's attorneys likely will try to get testimony regarding Asperger's syndrome included.
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