Man sentenced to life term for killing of Iowa state trooper

GRUNDY CENTER, Iowa — An Iowa man was sentenced Monday to life in jail with out the potential of parole for fatally capturing an Iowa State Patrol trooper final 12 months throughout a standoff and shootout with police.

The obligatory sentence was handed down a little bit greater than a month after a jury discovered Michael Lang, 42, responsible of first-degree homicide, tried homicide and assaulting a police officer for his actions on April 9, 2021, that killed 51-year-old patrol Sgt. Jim Smith in Grundy Heart. The town of almost 3,000 individuals is about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northeast of Des Moines.

Choose Joel Dalrymple additionally ordered Lang to pay $150,000 in restitution to Smith’s property.

Smith, a 27-year patrol veteran, was shot as he led a staff of officers into Lang’s dwelling in Grundy Heart. Lang had barricaded himself inside the house after he assaulted one other officer throughout a site visitors cease that day, police stated. Lang was additionally shot by officers however recovered.

Smith was the eleventh trooper to die within the line of obligation within the Iowa State Patrol’s historical past. Since then, a twelfth trooper has died within the line of obligation.