Former Marine convicted in strip club slaying

CASPER, Wyo. — A former Marine who shot a man to death outside a strip club near Casper has been sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison.

The Casper Star-Tribune reports 35-year-old John Knospler Jr. was sentenced Tuesday for the Oct. 4, 2013, death of 24-year-old James Baldwin. Knospler was convicted in December of second-degree murder.

Investigators say witnesses told them Baldwin was shot as he was trying to get into a car that Knospler was sitting in. Prosecutors say Baldwin was drunk and accidentally tried to get in the wrong car.

Knospler's attorneys argued their client was acting in self-defense, saying Baldwin punched through Knospler's car window while he was sleeping in the vehicle in the club's parking lot.

Knospler apologized, saying that knowing he caused Baldwin's death is "gut-wrenching."

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