Justin Hamilton went to court in Hastings on Friday to watch one of the men who kidnapped, beat and tortured him 15 months ago receive an exceptionally long prison sentence.
It wasn't easy for Hamilton, 26, of Lakeville. He was born with fetal alcohol syndrome and is developmentally delayed. And because he was kidnapped by a group of acquaintances on two consecutive nights in October 2008, he's found it scary to even leave the house where he lives with his brother and sister-in-law.
But Friday, with armed deputies standing nearby, Hamilton faced his assailant -- Jonathon Diepold, 22, of Northfield -- and then got up and quietly told the judge how the trauma had affected him. He told of how he was "set back" in the progress he had worked to achieve over the years.
Diepold was the last of five suspects sentenced for the brutal attacks, which stirred public outrage and empathy. Diepold will serve 10 years, double the recommended sentence under state guidelines.
The attacks came after a girl Hamilton had just met, Natasha Dahn, then 16, told her male friends that Hamilton had hit her. It was a lie, she later admitted.
During the five hours Hamilton was held against his will in a remote part of Dakota County on the first night, Oct. 10-11, 2008, he was beaten, kicked, hit with objects and burned. The next night, while in pain with broken ribs and burns, he was again assaulted for hours.
In court Friday, Diepold read aloud letters of apology to Justin Hamilton and his family. "I'm really sorry I snapped," he said, his hands cuffed. "I should have never listened to others. I realize now that you're not the bad guy I was told about. ... I pray every day that life will work out for both of us."
Hamilton listened, his mother at his side. "I will never, ever accept their apologies," he told reporters afterward. "These two men wanted to light me on fire alive and leave me for dead," referring to Diepold and Jonathan M. Maniglia, ringleaders in the attack.
Once happy-go-lucky and trusting, he said he no longer sleeps well or trusts people.
Before the attack, Hamilton said, he had planned to attend Dakota County Technical College to become a mechanic. But the nearly $20,000 he had saved for that went to lawyers.
Diepold was sentenced on two counts of kidnapping, two counts of false imprisonment and one count each of aggravated robbery, third-degree assault and gross misdemeanor theft.
The savagery of the attacks led prosecutor Lawrence Clark to ask the judge to double the prison time. "The defendant seems to carry some twisted notion of chivalry," Clark said, referring to the girl's lie. But these really were crimes that "shocked the senses," he said.
Noting the particular cruelty of the kidnappings and beatings, Judge Tim Wermager granted Clark's request. Diepold will serve two-thirds of the 10-year sentence in prison and could spend the rest of it on supervised release. A violation of his release conditions could send him back to prison to serve the entire sentence.
"Mr. Hamilton has physical scars. They may not go away," Wermager told Diepold, as he hung his head and his mother wept nearby. "But the most tragic part here is the mental and emotional harm that may never be overcome."
After the sentencing, Justin Hamilton said he was satisfied with the punishment. So was Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom. "If there ever was a case in Minnesota's history that warranted an upward departure from sentencing guidelines, this is it," he said.
Last October, about a year after the attacks, Wermager convicted Diepold after a bench trial. The judge noted that there were multiple forms of assault; that an especially vulnerable victim suffered particular cruelty, and that emotional harm was inflicted.
On Friday, Wermager noted that Diepold tended to minimize his role in the beatings.
In June, Maniglia, 21, of Northfield, was found guilty of kidnapping, assault and theft and sentenced to eight years in prison. Glen Ries, 34, of Northfield; Timothy Ketterling, 23, of Prior Lake, and Dahn pleaded guilty to lesser charges and were sentenced.
Joy Powell • 952-882-9017
