Life sentence in a brutal murder draws both praise and criticism (2025)

OMAHA - Patrick Bauldwin's life sentence in a brutal murderdraws both praise and criticism.

The question has dogged the sentencings of some of Omaha's mostbrazen killers. Christopher Edwards. Wesley Williams. StephenPullens.

In each of those cases, a judge handed down a meaty sentence butincluded the possibility, however remote, that the defendant mightone day be paroled.

In turn, prosecutors and victims' family members have emergedfrom the courtroom with the question: Why didn't the judge justthrow away the key?

On Wednesday, Douglas County District Judge Patrick Mullen didjust that.

He gave Patrick Bauldwin life and nothing less — calling thebeating and strangulation of Bauldwin's former fiancee "severe" and"prolonged." Pasinetta Fitzgerald, a day care provider and actressin local theater, had been trying to break off the couple'stumultuous relationship.

The life sentence was praised by prosecutors, the victim'sfamily and advocates as a landmark in domestic violence cases, apowerful signal that the courts no longer consider such cases justcrimes of passion.

But the outcome left defense attorneys with a question of theirown: By imposing a life term, did the judge disregard a jury'sverdict?

Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley, whose officerepresented Bauldwin, said his attorneys will argue on appeal thatthe judge's life sentence failed to heed the jury's finding thatBauldwin committed second-degree murder.

In September, a Douglas County jury had the option of convictingBauldwin, 46, of first-degree murder — defined as the premeditatedkilling of another. If jurors had, Bauldwin automatically wouldhave been sentenced to life in prison.

They instead opted to convict him of second-degree murder — theintentional killing of someone without premeditation.

The verdict meant that Bauldwin faced 20 years to life inprison.

"You hate to say that it's disregarding a jury's verdict, but ina way it is," Riley said. "Our argument will be that the judge is,in effect, nullifying the jury's verdict. If it's first-degreemurder, the sentence is life. If it's second-degree murder, then itshould be something less."

Prosecutor Matt Kuhse, a deputy Douglas County attorney,disagreed.

Nothing in state law required Mullen to give Bauldwin a range ofyears, Kuhse said. And no court precedent prevented him from givinga straight life sentence.

The judge's sentence "takes into account what Bauldwin did, hispast, his controlling behavior, his actions, his lack of remorse,"Kuhse said. "It clearly was within the bounds of the law."

In handing down the life sentence, Mullen detailed Bauldwin'sstrangulation of Fitzgerald and the effects her loss has had on herfamily.

He noted that a doctor testified it would have taken a minutebefore Fitzgerald passed out. To kill her, Mullen said, Bauldwinhad to continue choking her for a minute or more after she wentlimp.

"It is different than the shot of a gun," Mullen said. "Astrangulation, Mr. Bauldwin, has to be prolonged. It has to be ause of extreme force and violence. … In this case, the force usedwas so severe that it resulted in bruising in the back of thevictim's throat."

Riley said the sentence illustrates what he calls theincreasingly "fuzzy" difference between first- and second-degreemurder in Nebraska.

Juries often are instructed that a defendant can formpremeditation in an instant.

"If that's the case, you tell me how someone intends to dosomething without premeditating it?" Riley said. "It blurs the linebetween first- and second-degree murder."

In past second-degree murder cases, prosecutors have expressedsurprise that judges have given killers chances for parole.

Last year, Wesley Williams, 44, was sentenced to 70 to 80 yearsin prison. He brutalized his estranged wife, stabbing her more than20 times in front of their two toddler children. He will beeligible for parole at age 73.

In 2009, Stephen Pullens, 48, was sentenced to 80 years to lifein prison for killing his mother by throwing her from an apartmentbalcony. He will be eligible for parole at age 88.

In 2007, Christopher Edwards, 19, was sentenced to 100 years tolife in prison for the slashing death of his girlfriend, JessicaO'Grady, possibly with a sword. He'll be eligible for parole at69.

Some of those sentences are the equivalent of life terms.

But some rightly recognize the difference between a first- andsecond-degree murder conviction, Riley said.

Sue Michalski, interim executive director of the DomesticViolence Coordinating Council, said it's hard to compare sentencesacross cases.

The judge considers so many factors — a defendant's age,history, remorse or lack thereof, she said.

Fitzgerald's killing, like so many other domestic violencecases, may have started as a crime of passion, Michalski said. Butin the end, it was all about Bauldwin's desire to silenceFitzgerald.

Michalski, who watched Bauldwin's sentencing, said Mullen got itright.

"Wow," she said of the sentence. "He did horrific things to thatyoung woman. He didn't take accountability. He showed no remorse.He deserved what he got."