Linda Stermer, a Van Buren County woman convicted of murdering her husband back in 2007, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, a judge ruled Monday.
Stermer also received credit for 3,367 days already served.
“I came to this court filled with hope, hope that the questions which had been unanswered for so long would finally be answered, that this would finally be proven to all that the tragedy that took Todd from our lives was an accident and not a crime,” Stermer read in her letter to the court. “While I stand before you, innocent and wrongfully convicted, I’m prepared for the battle ahead.”
She continued, “My husband, my family, my daughters, friends and legal team, remain confident that this conviction will also be overturned.”
Stermer was found guilty of killing her husband, Todd, in 2007 after their home was found burned to the ground, and he was found with severe burns and lacerations to his head.
Investigators also found Todd’s blood on the bottom of the Stermers’ van, leading them to believe she had hit him with the car.
Stermer’s three-week trial in March and April involved forensics, fire analysis and personal accounts from her friends and neighbors, all of which explored her actions before and after the fire.
Stermer’s three sons also took the stand after being the last people to see their father alive. Each said they believed Linda Stermer was guilty of murder, and they no longer consider her their mother.
The prosecution pointed to what they called inconsistent statements about what happened in the months following the fire.
Stermer’s defense, however, stated insurance investigators rushed to blame Stermer for the fire that burned her house down, and that they went on a “witch hunt” against her.
Stermer was previously convicted of first-degree murder in her first trial in 2010.
However, that conviction was thrown out in 2018 after an appeals court ruled her defense attorney, current Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting, provided ineffective counsel and the prosecution misrepresented her testimony.
Jurors deliberated for seven hours on April 11 before finding Stermer guilty on both murder charges.
