What to Know
- Justo Smoker pleaded guilty in Lancaster County to third-degree murder, kidnapping and other offenses in the death of 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos.
- She was last seen walking home from church in the Bird-in-Hand area on June 21, 2020.
- Smoker was sentenced to 35 1/2 to 71 years in prison. The DA calls it an effective life sentence.
A man who led authorities to the remains of a young Amish woman in Pennsylvania pleaded guilty Friday to kidnapping and killing her.
Justo Smoker, 35, pleaded guilty in Lancaster County to third-degree murder, kidnapping and other offenses in the death of 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos, who was last seen walking home from church in the Bird-in-Hand area on June 21, 2020.
Smoker was sentenced to 35 1/2 to 71 years in prison. He faces an additional sentence of more than 17 years for violating parole from a previous series of burglaries and robberies.
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“This effectively is a life sentence for Smoker,” District Attorney Heather Adams said at a news conference after the hearing.
Authorities said they believe Smoker killed Stoltzfoos within a few hours of kidnapping her, buried her in one location where her stockings and bra were later found, then moved her body to another grave, on railroad property behind a business where he worked. A coroner said she was strangled and stabbed.
Smoker led authorities to her remains in April as a condition of his plea agreement, Adams said.
U.S. & World
LNP newspaper reported that Smoker apologized to Stoltzfoos’ family in court, saying he had “robbed the family of time and memories.” President Judge David Ashworth called Smoker a “predator of the worst kind.”
Smoker was on parole from a string of armed robberies he committed in 2006. He was released from prison in February 2019, 16 months before Stoltzfoos was killed.