{"id":15426,"date":"2015-09-10T19:44:06","date_gmt":"2015-09-10T19:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/independentweekender.com\/?p=15426"},"modified":"2015-09-10T19:44:06","modified_gmt":"2015-09-10T19:44:06","slug":"life-sentence-for-kopacz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/09\/10\/life-sentence-for-kopacz\/","title":{"rendered":"Life sentence for Kopacz"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY STACI WILSON<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Jonathan<\/a>

Jonathan Kopacz wears a bullet-proof vest while being led by the members of the sheriff\u2019s department from the Susquehanna County Courthouse Friday after he entered a guilty plea to first degree murder in the 2014 shooting death of Kelly Conklin. He received a life sentence with no possibility of parole. STAFF PHOTO\/STACI WILSON<\/p><\/div>\n

The man that gunned down a woman outside her home in Susquehanna last year will spend the rest of his life behind bars.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Kopacz, 35, of Thompson, pleaded guilty Friday afternoon to the first degree murder of Kelly Conklin, 22, of Susquehanna, in the early morning hours of Oct. 17, 2014. He was immediately sentenced to life without the possibility of parole by Judge Kenneth Seamans.<\/p>\n

As part of the plea deal, Kopacz will remain in the Susquehanna County Correctional Facility for 60 days to allow for Conklin\u2019s family to hold a victim\u2019s impact meeting if they desire. The family has not expressed any interest in meeting with Kopacz, District Attorney Jason Legg told the court.<\/p>\n

After the 60 days, Kopacz will serve his sentence in a state correctional facility.<\/p>\n

Kopacz planned Conklin\u2019s murder, purchasing two separate 9 mm handguns and ammunition, Legg told the court.<\/p>\n

\"KELLY<\/a>

KELLY CONKLIN<\/p><\/div>\n

Prior to the shooting, Kopacz also wrote a letter with his reasons for killing the woman and sent it to various people, including members of Conklin\u2019s family, the district attorney said.<\/p>\n

He then followed Conklin to her Washington Street home and shot her several times as she opened the door of her vehicle.<\/p>\n

Legg told the court Conklin had sustained 11 gunshot wounds and eight bullets were retrieved from her body.<\/p>\n

Judge Seamans said that of his 28 years on the bench he had seen some horrendous murders. \u201cThis is one of the most horrendous and callous I have seen. There\u2019s no rhyme or reason for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to his sentencing, Kopacz took the stand for nearly one hour, at first reading from a prepared statement.<\/p>\n

Looking at Conklin\u2019s family and friends assembled in the courtroom, Kopacz said, \u201cAs I look around the room I see the pain, hurt and sadness I know I caused. I also see the hate and anger you feel towards me. Like you, I suffer everyday knowing the hurt and sadness you feel is my fault. Because of me you don\u2019t get to see your daughter, hug your daughter or hear your daughter\u2019s voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should not have happened. Kelly should be here, not me,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

Kopacz did not speak about the shooting. Instead, he provided details about his life since the murder. \u201cI was struggling mentally and emotionally with what happened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sorry,\u201d he concluded, \u201cI truly am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conklin\u2019s mother, Anne Lee Conklin took the stand. \u201cI am the mother of an angel daughter, forever 22,\u201d she said. \u201cIt has been 11 months since she was taken from us. My heart is crushed; we will never be the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been sentenced to life without parole,\u201d Mrs. Conklin said. \u201cHate is a harsh word, but I do hate you.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his statement to the court, District Attorney Jason Legg said, \u201cParents aren\u2019t equipped to bury their children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing we do here can heal the wounds and brokenness. In the end, can we ever really give justice?\u201d Legg questioned. \u201cThis closes a chapter in Kelly\u2019s life and in her family\u2019s life, but it doesn\u2019t end the tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the prison sentence, Kopacz was also ordered to pay $14,785 for Conklin\u2019s funeral expenses.<\/p>\n

Outside the courtroom, Kelly\u2019s sister, Caryn Conklin said, \u201cJustice will never be served but this was the best possible outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY STACI WILSON The man that gunned down a woman outside her home in Susquehanna last year will spend the rest of his life behind…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":15427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nLife sentence for Kopacz - PS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/09\/10\/life-sentence-for-kopacz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Life sentence for Kopacz - PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BY STACI WILSON The man that gunned down a woman outside her home in Susquehanna last year will spend the rest of his life behind...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/09\/10\/life-sentence-for-kopacz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-09-10T19:44:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/WGSI_Kopacz_lifesentence.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1790\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1557\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/09\/10\/life-sentence-for-kopacz\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/09\/10\/life-sentence-for-kopacz\/\",\"name\":\"Life sentence for Kopacz - PS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/09\/10\/life-sentence-for-kopacz\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/09\/10\/life-sentence-for-kopacz\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/psowegomedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/WGSI_Kopacz_lifesentence.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-10T19:44:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/75c26bc8e32869a516360463d23964c5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/09\/10\/life-sentence-for-kopacz\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/09\/10\/life-sentence-for-kopacz\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/09\/10\/life-sentence-for-kopacz\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/psowegomedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/WGSI_Kopacz_lifesentence.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/psowegomedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/WGSI_Kopacz_lifesentence.jpg\",\"width\":1790,\"height\":1557,\"caption\":\"Jonathan Kopacz wears a bullet-proof vest while being led by the members of the sheriff\u2019s department from the Susquehanna County Courthouse Friday after he entered a guilty plea to first degree murder in the 2014 shooting death of Kelly Conklin. 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