Maximum sentence for ‘No Name Given Happy’ in Windom stabbing death

WINDOM, MINN. – The man with no name appeared to be shrinking with each passing minute, as he sat in court with his head down and his shoulders slumped, waiting to be sentenced for murder.

No Name Given Happy, as his name reads on his California commercial driver’s license, suddenly lifted his head, as a video began playing showing scenes from the life of the man he had killed.

The suspect silently watched a montage of photos of Benjamin Matter playing with his two children and smiling with his friends and family.

A jury convicted Happy in June after the fatal stabbing on New Year’s Eve of Matter, a 30-year-old auto-body mechanic from Windom.

When the video ended, Happy, 26, slumped into his seat once more. The next time he lifted his head was when a judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

“This was, in fact, a serious, intentional and brutal crime,” Judge Christina Wietzema said in court in Windom on Friday.

The bar fight also left two others wounded on New Year’s Eve at the Phat Pheasant Pub in Windom.

The jury also convicted Happy for a felony charge for threats of violence, but acquitted him of four other counts: intentional but unpremeditated second-degree murder, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and one charge for threats of violence.

Throughout the trial, Happy had shown no remorse, Wietzema said.

She said Happy’s statements before the sentencing indicated he thought what happened was only an ordeal for him. She read from a statement from Happy before the sentencing: “The night I expected to be fun turned into nightmare. It ruined my life.”

Happy’s defense argued that the events of that night had not been as clear-cut as presented. Happy’s lawyer, Stephanie Skoro, said her client was punched before the stabbing.

In addition, a police officer testified in a hearing that Happy was not read his Miranda rights over the course of hours as law enforcement brought him to a hospital.

Matter’s friends and family — wearing shirts with his catchphrase while shooting fireworks, “’MERICA” — spoke Friday in court about the impact of his death.

In some 20 victim impact statements, people said the killing shattered their lives. They talked about their inability to process their grief and their regrets at not saying proper goodbyes to Matter before his death.

His brother, James Stiles, talked about mentally zoning out on the road during shifts as a trucker, which led to his job loss and his wife now working double shifts to make ends meet.

“This crime didn’t just end his life; it destroyed ours,” Matter’s mother, Sheila Woelfel, said in court.

Matter was described as a “fixer by nature” who cleaned up the disc golf course in Jackson on his lunch breaks.

Matter’s friends and family asked Happy why he didn’t just leave the bar that night.

According to court records, Happy had been belligerent at the Phat Pheasant Pub and got kicked out. In the parking lot, he challenged people to a fight and another bar patron punched him in the face. Happy said he left a camera in the bar and wanted to retrieve it so he went back, court records said.

Armed with a knife, Happy returned to the Phat Pheasant. Matter approached him, and Happy thought Matter was charging at him in order to harm him, his lawyer said.

Happy stabbed him twice in the chest.

Happy understands he erred in his assessment of Matter, said Skoro, his lawyer.

After the sentencing, Matter’s friends and family gathered outside the courthouse.