Posted: 7/18/06
Meyer sentenced to life in prison
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
A 31-month ordeal came to a legal if not emotional end on July 12 when Justin Robert Meyer pled guilty to first degree murder in the death of Mark William Sullivan.
Meyer, 25, answering yes and no questions from his attorney, Samuel Jandt, admitted to shooting Sullivan in Caledonia on Monday, December 8, 2003.
ìYou struck Mr. Sullivan and caused him to die, correct?î Jandt asked.
ìCorrect,î Meyer responded in a muffled voice.
The crime carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Third District Court Judge James Fabian, speaking in an emotional voice that matched the mood of the room, ordered that the sentence be served consecutively with a life sentence that Meyer received in 2004 in Iowa for first degree kidnapping.
Houston County attorney Rick Jackson argued for that. He described how Meyer had shot Sullivan in the head with a shotgun slug from a distance of eight feet. It had happened while Sullivan was reaching across the woman he was with to protect her, Jackson said.
A meaningful sentence is needed, Jackson said. If anything ever changes in Iowa, if Meyer is ever released there, he should be required to begin serving a consecutive life sentence in Minnesota, Jackson said.
Meyerís attorney, Samuel Jandt, argued that the sentence be concurrent and not consecutive. He said that would give Meyer a glimmer of hope that he could refill the hole he had left in the lives of the Sullivan family.
Standing with his right hand on Meyerís slumped shoulder, Jandt said his client had remorse. ìItís the first man heís ever killed and he doesnít know how to handle it either,î Jandt said. ìIf he knew a better way to show it, he would.î
The plea agreement was for one count of murder in the first degree while committing a burglary. It came after Meyer contacted Jandt on June 29 saying he wanted to resolve the matter soon. Four other charges against Meyer were dropped.
Security was tight in the courthouse. People had to pass through a metal detector. Meyer, shackled and wearing an orange prison jump suit was escorted into the room by three officers, who stood in different parts of the room during the proceeding. People filled every seat in the courtroom, and about 15 stood along the walls.
Meyer sat slouched at a table. He did not make eye contact, and answered questions in one word sentences. He did not make a statement at the end of the hearing when asked by Judge Fabian.
Sullivanís mother, Mary Leary, and siblings Erin (Kearney), David, and Sarah read statements. They talked about Mark, what he was like and how his death impacted their lives. They also expressed rage at Meyer.
ìThere are no words to tell you how much I hurt,î Leary said. She described Mark as a considerate and loving son. He had gone with her to La Crescent to buy a Christmas tree on Friday before he was killed. He helped her set it up, gave her a kiss and a hug and said, ìI love you.î ìThat was the last time I saw my precious boy alive,î Leary said.
Mark was there for his mother after her husband, Bill, died of cancer, Leary said. ìThere is nothing Mark would not help me with,î she said.
Meyer couldnít be in prison long enough, Leary said. He wonít be able to share his life with his own son, she said. ìHe is evil,î she said in describing Meyer.
ìHe is a coward who couldnít take his own self-indulgent and selfish life,î Erin Kearney said shortly after that. She said she hoped he developed a conscience and felt pain.
ìThis is not supposed to happen in Caledonia,î Kearney said.
Meyer was found guilty of kidnapping in the first degree on November 10, 2004 in Allamakee County District Court in Waukon, IA. That charge stemmed from the same incident in which Meyer kidnapped his former girlfriend and their child after the murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole on November 29, 2004 for that.
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