March 31, 2022–5:39 p.m.
STAFF REPORTS
One of two people charged in the shooting death of Polk County Police Detective Kristen Hearne has pleaded guilty.
Seth Brandon Spangler was then sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after entering the plea on Thursday.
Spangler and Samantha Michelle Roof were arrested in the murder of Hearne and the wounding of Officer David Goodrich on September 29, 2017, as the officers were investigating a suspicious vehicle on Santa Claus Road.
District Attorney Jack Browning announced the state’s intention to seek the death penalty not long after the two were arrested.
Roof is still awaiting trial.