Plea deal will end nearly 40-year-old murder case
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A plea deal will apparently end a nearly 40-year-old murder case in St. Paul.
Prosecutors have dropped first-degree murder charges against Larry Clark in the 1970 ambush killing of St. Paul Police Officer James Sackett.
Instead, Clark is pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit murder.
The state Supreme Court threw out Clark's murder conviction, clearing the way for a new trial.
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Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner says the family of the slain policeman is comfortable with the decision:
"The family of James Sackett was very supportive of this plea agreement," Gaertner said. "They are very anxious to put this tragic chapter and the trials behind them and not do it again."
The plea deal requires Clark to serve another year in prison before he's out on supervised release.
Sackett was gunned down when he responded to a fake emergency call in 1970. A second man is serving life in prison for Sackett's murder.
