ESTERVILLE, Iowa (AP) - A northwest Iowa man has been given 50 years in prison for what his attorneys say was a crime committed in the heat of passion.
Nineteen-year-old Lee Christensen was sentenced Wednesday. Christensen was found guilty of second-degree murder in the June 2015 shooting death of 19-year-old Thomas Bortvit at the Christensen farm in the Estherville area.
Defense attorneys acknowledged that Christensen killed Bortvit but argued that it was a killing in the heat of passion over Bortvit’s girlfriend, whom Christensen had once dated. Prosecutors said Christensen planned the killing and tried to cover up his crime.
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