Month: February 2021

Hannah Stone was seventeen years old when she orchestrated the murder of her mother in Indiana. According to court documents Hannah Stone and her mother were having issues regarding Hannah’s boyfriend Spenser Krempetz. The mother and daughter arguments progressed to the point Hannah was booted from the residence for not breaking up with Spenser. The two teens would begin to plan the murder of her mother. The night before the brutal murder Hannah Stone and Spenser Krempetz would go over to the home of Aaron McDonald to enlist him in their plans.

Hannah Stone would knock on her mothers door saying she needed to grab some clothes. When the mother opened the door she was pushed over by Spenser Krempetz who bulldozed his way into the residence. Aaron McDonald and Spenser would bound the woman up then leave the residence to go collect money using the victims debit card. Hannah Stone would stay behind with her mother in case anyone showed up at the door.

When the two teenaged boys returned Spenser Krempetz would tell the victim to recite the Lords Prayer and when she was done he shot her in the head. The teens would leave the residence. Aaron McDonald returned to the victims home the next day to steal a check book however when he attempted to cash a check he would be arrested and quickly told police everything.

This teen killer would be convicted of her mothers murder and sentenced to one hundred years in prison. Spenser Krempetz would be sentenced to life in prison without parole.. Aaron McDonald received a sixty two year sentence and would die in custody in 2020 from a fatal overdose. Spenser Krempetz would take his own life in 2015 while incarcerated

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The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld a 62-year sentence Wednesday for a Middlebury teenager who confessed to helping plan and carry out the murder of a friend’s mother.

Aaron McDonald argued that Elkhart Circuit Judge Terry Shewmaker’s sentence was too harsh because he improperly considered aggravating and mitigating factors and because it did not fit the nature of the crime and McDonald’s character.

McDonald, 19, helped Hannah L. Stone, 18, and Spenser A. Krempetz, 20, to kill Barbara Keim, a 41-year-old registered nurse, in August 2005. Keim was Stone’s mother.

McDonald and Krempetz abducted Keim from her Middlebury apartment and took her to a cornfield, where Krempetz shot her in the back of the head.

McDonald said at the sentencing hearing in April 2006 that he became involved for a promise of $400. He also returned to Keim’s apartment and wrote himself a check for $800 so he could buy cocaine and marijuana.

The appeals court panel said that whether Shewmaker properly considered aggravating and mitigating factors when the sentence is within the statutory range was not an issue for appellate review.

It also rejected McDonald’s argument that Shewmaker did not take into account the nature of the crime and his character.

“Although he helped the state by pleading guilty, McDonald received significant benefits from a plea agreement that limited his total sentence to 65 years out of a possible 140 years. McDonald’s 62-year sentence was not inappropriate based on the nature of the offense and the character of the offender,” the panel wrote.

Hannah Stone was sentenced to 100 years in prison. Krempetz was sentenced to life without parole.

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2015/06/10/hannah-stone-accomplice-sentenced-indiana-murder/71030224/

Hannah Stone Appeal

On August 4, 2005, seventeen-year-old Hannah Stone and her mother, Barbara Keim,
argued about Stone’s boyfriend, eighteen-year-old Spenser Krempetz. Keim and Stone
eventually agreed that Stone would move out of Keim’s house. After the argument,
Stone smoked marijuana and went to the home of seventeen-year-old Aaron McDonald.
Krempetz arrived at McDonald’s house later that day. The three teens created a plan to
kill Stone’s mother.

Later that day, Hannah Stone, McDonald, and Krempetz drove to Keim’s house to carry
out their plan. Stone knocked on Keim’s door, knowing that Keim would not answer if
she saw Krempetz or McDonald. When Keim opened the door for Stone, Krempetz
entered the house and tackled Keim. Krempetz bound Keim’s hands and covered her
eyes and mouth with duct tape, and McDonald stole money, Keim’s debit card, and a
check from the home. After Stone and Krempetz put Keim in a car, Krempetz and
McDonald drove Keim to a cornfield in nearby Kosciusko County, where Krempetz shot
and killed her.

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The State charged Hannah Stone with murder, a felony; conspiracy to commit murder, a
Class A felony; and criminal confinement, a Class B felony. Stone originally pleaded not
guilty, but in March 2006 she entered into a plea agreement, under which she pleaded
guilty as charged. The plea agreement provided, in part: “The parties agree to a
stipulated sentence of one hundred years (100).

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Eighteen-year-old Krempetz and his seventeen-year-old girlfriend Hannah Stone, along with a mutual friend, seventeen-year-old Aaron McDonald, devised a plan to rob and kill Stone’s mother, Barbara Jo Keim. Stone conceived of the idea to “get rid of” Keim because she was annoyed that her mother did not approve of her relationship with Krempetz.   McDonald was promised $400 for his efforts.   Stone had recently moved out of her mother’s home, and thus Keim lived alone in an apartment in Middlebury, Elkhart County, Indiana.   The accomplices agreed that Krempetz and McDonald would hide in the stairwell located next to the apartment and Stone would knock on the door and ask her mother for clothing.   They knew that Keim would not let them inside if she saw the two young men, especially Krempetz.   Once Keim opened the door, Krempetz would tackle her and McDonald would follow armed with a handgun.   Money obtained from Keim’s credit union account would be used to pay McDonald.

The trio proceeded to execute the plan.   On August 4, 2005, the group went to Keim’s apartment.   Krempetz and McDonald hid in the stairwell, Stone knocked on her mother’s door, and when Keim opened the door, Krempetz ran inside and tackled her.   Armed with a handgun McDonald followed.   Krempetz overpowered a screaming Keim, and while McDonald held her at gunpoint, Krempetz bound Keim with duct tape over her arms, eyes, and mouth.   In the meantime, searching Keim’s purse, Stone retrieved Keim’s ATM card.   Removing the tape from her mouth long enough to get a response, Krempetz asked Keim about the location of her credit union, her PIN, and the amount of money in her account.

Krempetz and McDonald then drove Keim to the credit union.   Hannah Stone remained at the apartment because the trio was concerned that someone may have called the police after hearing Keim screaming.   The plan was to throw the police off track in the event officers came to check on the incident.   Arriving at the ATM McDonald gave his handgun to Krempetz, exited the car, and attempted to obtain $800 or $1000.   After two failed attempts McDonald retrieved $200.   McDonald returned to the car, and Krempetz drove away.   After a period of time that McDonald later testified “felt like hours,” Tr. at 51, Krempetz drove to a cornfield in an adjacent county.   Barefoot and still bound with duct tape, Keim was marched into the field where Krempetz fatally shot her in the back of the head.   McDonald then gave Krempetz the $200.   Krempetz kept half and gave the other half back to McDonald.

Within days of these events all three accomplices were arrested and charged as codefendants with Count I murder, a felony;  Count II conspiracy to commit murder, a Class A felony;  and Count III criminal confinement while armed with a deadly weapon, a Class B felony.   The State also requested life imprisonment without parole alleging three aggravating factors:  intentional killing while committing or attempting to commit robbery, Ind.Code § 35-50-2-9(b)(1)(G);  the defendants committed the murder while lying in wait, I.C. § 35-50-2-9(b)(3);  and the defendants committed the murder by hiring another person to kill.  I.C. § 35-50-2-9(b)(5).   In March 2006, without the benefit of a plea agreement, Krempetz pleaded guilty as charged.   Judgment was entered accordingly.¹