Wisconsin teen gets life in prison for killing school principal
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(AP) - A 16-year-old was sentenced Friday to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the shooting death of his high school principal.
Eric Hainstock was convicted a day earlier of the first-degree intentional homicide of Weston Schools Principal John Klang last September.
Sauk County Circuit Judge Patrick Taggart said Hainstock would be eligible for parole in 30 years. He also urged the state's Department of Corrections place him a juvenile center.
"I do believe you can be rehabilitated," the judge told Hainstock, who showed no emotion as the sentence was read.
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Prosecutors had asked for a life sentence. District Attorney Pat Barrett argued Hainstock knew what he was doing when he went to school with guns and ammunition Sept. 29, the morning homecoming was to begin.
Hainstock's attorney, Rhoda Ricciardi, said her client was emotional and immature and never meant to kill Klang. She found him watching the children's cartoon "SpongeBob SquarePants" before his sentencing Friday morning.
"There is very little thought to anything he does," Ricciardi said.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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