COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A man convicted in October of robbing and killing a newspaper sports editor was sentenced Monday to 40 years in prison, while a co-defendant was sentenced to 25 years as part of a plea deal.
Boone County Circuit Judge Ellen Roper sentenced Ryan Ferguson, 21, of Columbia, to 30 years for second-degree murder and 10 years for robbery and ordered that the sentences run consecutively. Roper also denied Ferguson's request for a new trial.
A Lincoln County jury convicted Ferguson of the charges in the death of Kent Heitholt, a Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor who was strangled and beaten in the newspaper parking lot on Nov. 1, 2001.
Before sentencing, Ferguson told the judge the justice system had failed.
"It has failed because it has put an innocent man in jail and let a horrible man run free," said Ferguson, before turning his comments to Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Crane, who tried the state's case against him.
"I don't see how Crane can live with himself," Ferguson said.
Heitholt's daughter, Kali Heitholt, was the only member of the victim's family attending the sentencing. She said she was relieved to have the trial behind her.
The state's star witness, Chuck Erickson, 21, testified that after attending a Halloween party at a nearby nightclub, he and Ferguson attacked Heitholt, intending to rob him.
Erickson, who pleaded guilty before the trial, was sentenced Monday by Boone County Presiding Judge Gene Hamilton to two 15-year sentences for second-degree murder, to run concurrently, and one 10-year sentence for armed criminal action to be served
consecutively, making his total sentence 25 years.
The sentence was part of a plea bargain that included his testimony against Ferguson. Erickson's attorney, Mark Kempton of Sedalia, said his client will be turned over Tuesday to the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Before the sentencing Monday, Ferguson's lawyer, Charlie Rogers, asked Roper to overturn the verdict or grant a new trial for his client, arguing that Erickson's story about what happened that night has continued to change and that the state failed to disclose
evidence to the defense.
The defendant's father, Bill Ferguson, said the family would hire a new attorney to appeal the verdict.
"We are exploring all our options," he said.