A Fort Wayne man was sentenced to 91 years in prison on Tuesday after being found guilty of murder in the April shooting death of a man whose body was found in a forested area.
Additionally, a jury last month determined that Anthony J. Lopez, 42, had illegally possessed a weapon when William Jeffrey Kintzel, 63, of South Whitley, was killed.
Lopez was given a 65-year sentence for the murder, a 20-year sentence enhancement for using a firearm during the crime, and a six-year term for carrying a pistol while having a felony history within the preceding 15 years by Allen County Superior Court Judge Fran Gull.
When Kintzel’s body was found on April 14, he was scheduled to stand trial for possessing cocaine that day. Police suspect that the murder took place a few days earlier.
According to the prosecution, video from a neighbouring resident’s security camera shows Kintzel driving Lopez and another man close to a wooded location, parking, and the second man waiting in Kintzel’s SUV while the victim and Lopez enter the woods before Lopez exits the woods.
Richard Thonert, Lopez’s attorney, has declared he will appeal the judgments.
According to police, Fort Wayne resident Michael Allen Barker, 42, was the SUV’s driver.
Barker is wanted for questioning in connection with a murder and felony robbery with a serious bodily harm charge.
