Nathan Middleton
A southern Wisconsin man will spend 28 years in prison for burning the body of an 18-year-old woman who answered his Internet ad for sex. Nathan Middleton, 30, of Evansville received a maximum sentence Wednesday. That’s after he pleaded guilty in March to two Rock County felony charges of hiding and mutilating a corpse.
The incident happened last October. According to prosecutors, Middleton claimed that he had sex at his home with Aprina Paul of Fitchburg, she died after taking drugs, and he panicked and burned her body.
AUDIO: At his sentencing Wednesday, Judge Richard Werner said Middleton was only thinking about himself when he destroyed Aprina Paul’s body. (:23)
AUDIO: Judge Werner said there’s no excuse for what Middleton did to Aprina Paul — or her mother, who wasn’t given the opportunity to say goodbye. (:17)
Investigators failed to prove that Middleton intentionally killed Paul. An attempted escape charge was dropped in a plea deal. Officials said Middleton wrote his mother about a month after he was arrested, and asked her blow up a window at the Rock County Jail so they could run away to Mexico. She never received that letter.
WCLO contributed to this article
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