Wisconsin sex offender gets life in prison without parole for killing neighbor, her 2 children

Sex offender gets life in Wis. triple slaying

JANESVILLE, Wis. — A convicted sex offender was sentenced to life in prison without parole Tuesday for strangling and stabbing his neighbor and her two teenage children in their trailer home in southern Wisconsin.

A jury found 51-year-old James Koepp guilty in February of first-degree intentional homicide in the deaths of 38-year-old Danyetta Lentz, her 17-year-old daughter, Nicole, and her 14-year-old son, Scott. Prosecutors believe Koepp had an affair with Lentz and killed her to keep the tryst secret. His wife divorced him six months after the killings.

Koepp’s conviction carried three mandatory life sentences. The main question Tuesday was whether Rock County Circuit Judge Alan R. Bates would give him a chance at parole.

Koepp’s attorney, Walter Isaacson, argued for parole eligibility after 20 years. He said Koepp he deserved mercy because he had bipolar disorder and grew up with an abusive stepfather.

District Attorney David O’Leary argued against parole eligibility, saying the “cold-blooded” killings involved an “up close and personal” hand-to-hand struggle with each victim. He also noted that Koepp had a long criminal record that included home invasions, burglary, auto theft and a 1983 conviction for sexually assaulting two women in a substance abuse center.

Koepp never followed through on promises to get treatment, O’Leary added.

Koepp, a slight man with close-cropped gray hair and a goatee, spoke only once, to tell Bates he had nothing to say.

The judge gave Koepp three consecutive life sentences, saying he wanted to recognize each victim, and ruled him ineligible for parole. He said Koepp had offered no apologies and hadn’t taken any responsibility for his “heinous” crimes.

“There is no reason why it had to happen,” Bates said.

Lentz’s father, Russell Lucht, called the sentence fair.

“Three lifes for three lives,” he said. “It’s a blessing it’s over. Now everybody, family and all, can get on with their lives knowing he’s not around to hurt anybody else.”

Lucht said he didn’t care that Koepp didn’t speak during the hearing.

“I only had one question for him and that’s ‘Why?’” he said. “He wouldn’t have answered that anyway.”

Lucht found his daughter and grandchildren’s bodies in the trailer they shared on the outskirts of Janesville in January 2007. All three had been strangled and stabbed multiple times. Scott’s room had been ransacked, and the trailer was splattered with blood.

Detectives quickly focused on Koepp, who lived kitty-corner to the Lentzes in the same trailer park. Nicole’s boyfriend told investigators he talked to Nicole by phone on the night of the murders and she told him “Jim” was in the trailer.

Koepp skipped an interview with detectives and tried to flee the state four days after the slayings, leading sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed chase. He was charged in the Lentzes’ deaths while serving four years in prison for the chase.

Forensic analysts testified during the trial that Koepp’s DNA was found under Lentz and Nicole’s fingernails and DNA from blood on Koepp’s clothing matched all three victims.

Koepp initially told investigators he didn’t know the family. He later changed his story, saying he went to the trailer to talk to Lentz about their affair the night of the killings.