Final Sentencing in Trial from Death of Kansas Couple

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The last defendant in the deaths of a Kansas couple has been sentenced to prison.

Twenty-year-old Braden Smith was sentenced Thursday to 24½ years in prison for providing guns he knew would be used to kill Roger and Melissa Bluml of Valley Center. The couple was shot outside their home in November 2013.

Smith was originally charged with capital murder but pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and testified against his three co-defendants.

The shootings were planned by the couple’s adopted son, Anthony Bluml, and his biological mother, Kisha Schaberg. Andrew Ellington, Anthony Bluml’s high school friend, helped with the plot. All three are currently serving long prison sentences.

Testimony indicated Schaberg and her son devised the plot to kill the Blumls over hatred and for money.