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."