Ottawa — Joseph Hayden and Raymond Fuller will have a few more years behind bars to remember the early-morning hours of Nov. 1, 2000, and their night out in Franklin County.
Both were sentenced to prison Tuesday for their roles in the beating of an elderly man and the murder of his wife.
Howard Johnson, 85, who survived the beating, sat quietly in the courtroom as District Judge James Smith ordered Hayden, 18, Olathe, to serve 186 months, or 15 1/2 years in prison, for second-degree murder.
Last month, a jury decided it was Hayden who used a shovel to beat to death Johnson's 85-year-old wife, Vivian, in the Johnsons' rural Franklin County home.
Hayden also was sentenced to 61 months for attempted second-degree murder in the beating of Howard Johnson and 34 months for aggravated burglary. All of the sentences are to be served concurrently.
When he is released, Hayden will have to serve 36 months of post-release supervision under Community Corrections.
Smith sentenced 24-year-old Fuller, of Gardner, to 77 months, or a little more than six years in prison, on one count of attempted second-degree murder and 61 months on a separate count of attempted second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 34 months in prison for aggravated burglary.
Fuller's sentences will be served concurrently. He will be under post-release supervision for 36 months when he is released.
Fuller and Hayden each were ordered to pay $9,068 in restitution. Most of that money will go to Howard Johnson for various expenses, with the remainder to friends who have assisted him.
Hayden declined to say anything in court prior to his sentencing. Fuller, however, told the judge he had changed since his arrest more than a year ago.
"I wish I could do something or say something that would make everything better, but I can't," Fuller said.
Daryl Stottlemire, a friend of the Johnsons, asked the judge to give maximum, consecutive sentences to Hayden and Fuller. Stottlemire said he thought the juries in both cases were too lenient with Fuller and Hayden.
"Howard and Vivian never have done anybody wrong that I know of," Stottlemire said.
Kansas Assistant Atty. Gen. John Bork called the crimes heinous, atrocious and cruel. He noted that Vivian Johnson was hooked up to an oxygen machine when she was killed.
Bork assisted Franklin County Atty. John Dowell with the cases.
Prior to sentencing, Smith denied a request for a new trial made by Hayden's attorney, Robert Kuchar, Olathe. Kuchar complained about not being allowed to enter all of the evidence he wanted to use. He also criticized the judge for what he described as a rude and inattentive manner during the trial.
Bork said he agreed with Kuchar's assessment of Smith's demeanor but said he didn't think it affected the outcome of the trial.
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