Pena sentencing ends murder case

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Emotions were visible late Monday morning, as the last of two men charged in the beating death of 79-year old Edwin Saffert of Springfield was sentenced to prison.

Two of the murdered man's sisters and his brother made short presentations to the court during the sentencing of 18-year old Daniel Ramon Pena, the younger of the two Springfield men accused in Saffert's death, about the impact their brother's death had on their family.

Prosecutors recommended the presumptive sentence for second-degree murder for Pena. Pena's attorney, Darci Bentz of Fairmont, agreed with the state's recommendations.

Brown County District Court Judge John Rodenberg told Pena he had the right to make a statement at the hearing if he so chose, but Pena simply shook his head and said nothing.

Rodenberg sentenced Pena to serve 306 months in prison, allowing him to have credit for 314 days of jail time he already served. Pena has to serve a minimum of 204 months in prison before he's eligible for release Rodenberg also ordered Pena to pay $7,500 in restitution to the Minnesota Crime Victims' Fund.

Pena and co-defendant James Robert Ketcher, 28, both chose to take plea bargains offered by prosecutors. The two men entered pleas of guilty to lesser, second-degree murder charges instead of facing trials on the first-degree charges returned by the Brown County grand jury in October.

The two were charged days after Saffert's body was discovered in the bedroom of his Springfield home by a city utilities worker that had gone to the house to check Saffert's electrical meter.

Police later received a tip from an anonymous source who claimed that Ketcher was overheard talking about plans to rob Saffert days before the killing. Both men admitted they took part in the robbery, but blamed each other for the actual killing, insisting they acted as the lookout while the other went inside the house, struck and killed Saffert. Police found what Ketcher identified as the murder weapon in the Minnesota River but were unable to lift any fingerprints from the axe handle.

Ketcher was sentenced to 346 months in prison by Rodenberg on June 2. In that case, the judge ordered that Ketcher has to serve at least 19 years of that sentence before he's eligible for release. Ketcher received a heavier sentence than Pena because he already had two felony convictions on his record before he was charged in the killing. State sentencing guidelines require judges to take into account a defendant's prior record before ordering that person to serve jail time.

Bentz said she had nothing else to say about the outcome of the Pena case, except to repeat earlier comments, in which she said that Pena, too, wants to see closure to case.

Saffert's two sisters and brother made short comments on their feelings about their brother's murder. They made similar statements at Ketcher's sentencing over one month ago.

At the Ketcher sentencing, the three siblings pointed out that their brother "didn't have a choice" and "worked hard for his money." Saffert was looking forward to his 80th birthday celebration at the time he was killed. When he was younger, he had seizures and had "a horrible life." One of his sisters described her brother's murder as "the most horrible thing that's happened to our family."

When asked if he ever thought the true identity of Saffert's killer would come to light, Brown County Attorney James Olson said, "I've got my own opinions on that, but we'll probably never know."

During the sentencing hearing, Olson also gave a short presentation to the court about his views on the victim, Edwin Saffert.

"I never met Mr. Saffert, but with all the friends and relatives he had, he seemed like he was a kind, generous man. It was tragic that this man was beaten to death in a burglary gone wrong," Olson said later Monday. "The family is still feeling the effects. It's been very emotional for all of them. This has almost been one year. Hopefully, it will bring closure to this."

Once the hearing was over, many of Saffert's relatives, who sat in on both cases from start to finish, filed out of the courtroom quietly. A few grumbled that there was no sentence long or cruel enough for Pena. Another man swore that if he ever got the chance to vote for capital punishment, he'd vote yes.

Many of the family members declined to comment on the sentence, saying they now consider the matter closed.