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Giurati it took about three hours to decide that Theron Thomas Kent killed Beau Arndt end of last year.

Kent, 57, of Topeka was sentenced this afternoon of involuntary manslaughter, without the permission of hunting and criminal discharge of a firearm in the December 15, 2007, death of 18 years, Arndt. Kent remains free on bond and will be sentenced to 1:15 pm on August 12.

The nine women and three men began to deliberate about 10:40 am Thursday. They worked with lunch and at 2 pm, word came that they had a verdict. By 2:10 pm, Chief Judge Merlin Wheeler was reading the verdict to a crowded but silent court. Before issuing the verdict, warned those in the gallery to control their emotions. They have done so, with only silent tears sliding down the faces of those support Kent and well clenched hands on the side Arndt.

“It ‘just a horrible case,” Lyon County Attorney Marc Goodman said quietly, after the sentences were read. “It ‘unfortunate that we must adopt laws for something that we think people understand the need for a statute name on it.”

In making judgments, jurors to agree with the rule that Kent fired a rifle shot in the field-level roads and 310 D where Arndt and two friends were hidden in tents next to a flock of geese decoys. Kent has said in a fire coyote. But the shot fired Arndt, instead, killing him quickly.

The case was not as clearcut as some have wanted to May. Single Point broke into five pieces in Arndt of the body, which did not leave enough for experts to match Kent’s rifle. And Kent, despite expressing remorse Arndt repeatedly to the family, neighbors and investigators, never said he had shot Arndt. He testified that he does not see the point where he fired landed.

Instead, the state pieced together a case based on eyewitness testimony of Derek Jackson, who was hunting with Arndt and saw a pick-up reddish orange truck driving slowly from the field before the suspension. He heard a shot, Arndt heard shouting and saw the truck drive off.

Another witness, Angela Waner, who lives about four miles from the field, called investigators the night of the shooting. He said to help the three men in a red-orange truck withdrawal change a flat tyre. He recalled that the truck had a Shawnee County license tag. Two other hunters also called, saying that a pickup truck pulled behind them up to 310 Road near the camp. The truck had three people in it and continued west. Emporia hunters shot north road D heard sirens and rescue personnel respond to the shooting.

All this has led investigators to Kent, a Topeka businessman who had spent the night before the shooting with two other men at his cousin cabin about eight miles from the shooting site.

Throughout the process, Kent’s lawyer, Donald Hoffman, kept making the point that the leadership streets with loaded rifles is common practice, as is cooking decoys set up by other hunters. Indeed, in the weeks following the death of Arndt, hunters have stepped forward in the media with their experiences of being killed while hunting.

If nothing else, said Goodman would like to see Arndt’s death serve a greater purpose.

“On behalf of Beau, perhaps someone thinks hunting or with a firearm illegally could learn something from this,” said Goodman, “particularly in rural areas, I hope.”

Note: Information for this story provided by the Emporia Gazette.