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Last updated on Friday, January 8, 2016
(CROWN POINT) - An Illinois man has been sentenced to 67 years in the shooting death of a northwestern Indiana woman whose body was found in casino’s parking garage.
The Munster Times reports 60-year-old Ralph Martinez of Alsip, Illinois, was silent during Wednesday's hearing, aside from telling the judge he wants to appeal his conviction.
A Lake County jury convicted Martinez in August of murder, murder in the perpetration of a robbery, robbery and criminal confinement in the March 2013 death of 76-year-old Mary Austgen of St. John, Indiana.
Prosecutors said Martinez hid for hours in a bathroom at Austgen's family business in Griffith before tackling Augsten from behind and pulling a gun on her. Her body was found in her SUV, parked in a garage at Gary's Majestic Star Casino.
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