Rapid City man charged with murder after injured victim dies
AP
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A Rapid City man is now charged with murder after a woman he’s accused of sexually assaulting died of injuries related to her attack.
Fifty-eight-year-old Marlon Little Bald Eagle was indicted this week on charges of first-degree felony murder and alternative counts of second- and third-degree rape in the woman’s death April 23.
According to authorities, an April 26 autopsy found injuries sustained during the assault played a role in the death of the 42-year-old woman. The autopsy found significant internal injuries, but the medical examiner needed more information to identify the cause of death.
Police said they zeroed in on Little Bald Eagle after a woman called 911 and told them he had taken responsibility for the woman’s death.
Felony murder is when a victim dies while someone is committing a serious felony. A defendant can be convicted of felony murder even if they didn’t mean to kill or cause anyone’s death.
Pennington County State’s Attorney Mark Vargo says that’s the theory in this case, that Little Bald Eagle didn’t mean to kill the woman, the Rapid City Journal reported.
The punishment is still the same as other first-degree murder cases: the death penalty or life in prison without the chance of parole.
The alternative rape counts mean that Little Bald Eagle could be convicted of one or neither, but not both, of the charges.
https://apnews.com/article/sd-state-...80bc00d47a1d4f
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