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Martin Man Sentenced To 48 Years For 2012 Beating Death

MARTIN, S.D. (AP) — A Martin man who pleaded no contest to charges that he bludgeoned a man to death as a teenager has been sentenced to prison.

Twenty-year-old Matthew Libby pleaded no contest in January to charges of second-degree murder in the death of 48-year-old Albert Apple. The Rapid City Journal reports ( ) that Judge Kathleen Trandahl sentenced Libby to 48 years Friday but suspended 21 years of his sentence.

Bennett County State’s Attorney Ken Orrock has said that Libby has no recollection of the events that led to the death of Apple following a party in November 2012. Apple’s body was found in a ditch and an autopsy showed that he died from severe blunt force trauma to his head.

Libby first becomes eligible for parole in 13 ½ years.