The man who strangled Laura DeMeules and left her body in a ditch near Northfield three years ago was sentenced Thursday to 26 years in prison.
Antonio Medina, 34, pleaded guilty in May to second-degree intentional murder in the death of DeMeules, a 33-year-old Minneapolis mother of three who was last seen by relatives on the night of Nov. 5, 2005.
In exchange for the plea, Rice County Attorney Paul Beaumaster sought a sentence about two-and-a-half years shorter than Medina otherwise might have faced. But several family members of the victim asked Judge Thomas Neuville for the maximum penalty during Thursday's sentencing hearing, Beaumaster said.
More than 20 relatives and friends spoke in the packed courtroom about how DeMeules' death had affected their lives, including the man who found her body on his property near Interstate 35, Beaumaster said.
The murder went unsolved for two years, until Medina was convicted for drunken driving in Hennepin County and authorities took a sample of his DNA, a step routinely taken for felons. In January, his DNA profile was matched to an unknown sample found on a fingernail clipping from DeMeules' body.
Interviewed by investigators in February, Medina said he picked up a woman on Lake Street the night DeMeules died. He said he was drunk and high on crack or cocaine and choked the woman in his pickup truck after arguing with her.
Medina apologized for the crime at the hearing Thursday, though he still did not say why he killed DeMeules, Beaumaster said.
SARAH LEMAGIE
