Crime, Law and Justice

North Dakota court overturns life term in cut from womb case

Woman Killed Baby Taken
In this Sept. 27, 2018, file photo, William Hoehn testifies in District Court in Fargo, N.D., during his trial for conspiracy to commit murder of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a 22-year-old who's baby was cut from her womb. Hoehn, who pleaded guilty to two charges for his role in the death, is scheduled to be sentenced Monday, Oct. 29, 2018.
Michael Vosburg | AP

The North Dakota Supreme Court has thrown out the life sentence given to a man whose girlfriend cut the baby from the womb of an unsuspecting neighbor.

William Hoehn, of Fargo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the August 2017 attack on Savanna Greywind, who died of her injuries but whose baby survived. He entered the plea before a jury acquitted him of conspiracy to commit murder.

Hoehn's girlfriend, Brooke Crews, admitted that she sliced Greywind's baby from her womb.

Hoehn had faced a maximum 21 years behind bars, but Judge Tom Olson granted prosecutors' request to label Hoehn a dangerous offender, enhancing his maximum sentence to life with the possibility of parole.

The state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Hoehn shouldn't have received that designation and ordered that he be resentenced.