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3 convicted as teens for slaying now have chance at parole

Three men convicted of killing an Iowa woman when they were teenagers have been resentenced to life in prison with the chance of parole.
scales of justice

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — Three men convicted of killing an Iowa woman when they were teenagers have been resentenced to life in prison with the chance of parole.

Jason Speaks and brothers Burt and Derek Smith originally were convicted of first-degree murder and robbery and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for killing Rebecca Hauser on Oct. 4, 1994. But a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling banned mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juvenile killers. The three were resentenced Monday in Marshalltown.

All three were from Kirksville, Missouri, and 15 years old when they killed Hauser outside Liscomb in Marshall County. They were running away to Canada and wanted another vehicle. A fourth boy involved pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for his testimony and was given 75 years in prison.

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