Ex-Alaskan sentenced for murder

LIHUE, Kauai (AP) — A former Anchorage, Alaska, man who pleaded guilty to stabbing his girlfriend to death was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Steven M. Wilson, 27, was convicted May 27 of second-degree murder in the death of Kendra “Kenny” Elizabeth Lewis.

Her mother and sister attended the sentencing.

“I truly hope that the sentencing of Mr. Wilson today will bring some sense of closure to the family,” Judge Kathleen Watanabe said.

Maria Ketchum of Anchorage said Wilson took a big part of the lives of everyone who loved her daughter. Wilson should feel every day the pain they felt when they learned how Lewis died, she said.

“He has changed all of our lives forever,” Ketchum said.

Family members begged Lewis to leave Wilson and not to accompany him to Kauai in early 2013, Ketchum said. Her daughter was preparing to leave him when she died, she said.

“He is an evil person,” she said.

Lewis died of multiple stab wounds in the bedroom of her condo in Kapaa.

Her body was discovered hidden in a closet April 26, 2013, about two weeks after she died.

Wilson stabbed Lewis twice in the abdomen, said Kauai County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Melinda Mendes, and in the chest, cheek, neck, legs and left arm. He stabbed her in the voice box so that she would not scream, she said.

Wilson in court statements said he thinks about Lewis and what he did to her every day. The pain he feels, he said, could not compare to what the family feels.

Court-appointed defense attorney Craig De Costa said Wilson has expressed remorse and made no excuses. Wilson has redeeming qualities and will go to prison hoping to return to society, De Costa said.

Prosecutors want Wilson to serve 40 years before eligibility for parole. The state Paroling Authority will decide when he’s eligible, Watanabe said.