BATTLE CREEK, MI (WNWN) – One of the defendants convicted in the 1991 strangulation death of Christa Ferree was given a new prison sentence Thursday.
45-year-old Thomas Krause II will now serve a sentence of 40 to 60 years. Krause was previously sentenced to life in prison with parole.
The Battle Creek Enquirer reports the life without parole sentences that were handed down to the three young suspects were ruled unconstitutional by the Michigan and U.S. Supreme Courts. The justices felt that since the brain of a juvenile is not fully developed, they should be treated differently by the courts.
Ferree was killed because the three defendants wanted to take her car to California. Her body was found in Oklahoma.
