MISSOULA, Mont. (Reuters) - A Montana homeowner who was convicted of deliberate homicide last year for fatally shooting an unarmed 17-year-old German exchange student who entered his garage was sentenced to 70 years in prison on Thursday.
Markus Kaarma will not be eligible for parole for the first 20 years of his sentence. He was found guilty of killing Diren Dede of Hamburg in December in a trial that tested Montana's "castle doctrine" self-defense law, which allows deadly force against a home invasion if a person reasonably believes it is necessary to prevent an assault.
