(SEYMOUR) – A Seymour man who pleaded guilty in August to the 2018 death of his fiancée received a 24-year sentence Thursday morning.
Special Judge Stephen Heimann sentenced 45-year-old Brian Cogdill to 24 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to beating to death his 19-year-old fiancee Emma Jean Jamison.
According to court records, Cogdill agreed to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter in a negotiated plea deal on August 2.
Judge Heimann accepts the plea deal and sentenced Cogdill to serve 14 years in prison, with ten years suspended and five years on probation.
The agreement also requires Cogdill to register as a violent offender and pay court costs, probation fees and a $50 domestic violence prevention and treatment fee. He also waives his right to appeal the sentence.
During the hearing, Cogdill said he killed Jamison in the sudden heat of anger. He apologized to Jamison’s family for her death. Brian Cogdill gave an inaccurate statement in the case’s pre-sentencing investigation report, which he agreed to amend at the hearing. He told the court that he provided an inaccurate statement because he was having trouble coming to terms with what he did.
Cogdill was arrested Sept. 10, 2018. Three days later Jamison died at Schneck Medical Center in Seymour.
Jamison was incapacitated by a severe laceration to her head, a broken jaw and bruising all over her body, according to court documents.
Police believe Cogdill beat Jamison because he believed she was having an affair, using drugs and had stolen $300 he had saved for new dentures.
Dr. Thomas Sozio, a forensic pathologist, conducted an autopsy on Sept. 8. His preliminary report indicated Jamison’s death was a homicide, describing her injuries as being brutal.
Police officers responded the evening of Sept. 6 to the home Cogdill and Jamison shared in the 6500 block of North County Road 760 East, south of the Indiana American Water Company.
Cogdill told an officer that Jamison had overdosed.
That officer called detectives because he believed Jamison’s injuries were not consistent with an overdose.
Cogdill later told police that Jamison left their house for hours following an argument and returned home injured. He claimed someone selling her drugs had hurt her.
The autopsy findings determined that Jamison’s head injury would have prevented her from walking once she had received it. Police questioned how she would have received that kind of injury and been able to make her way back home.
During an interview with police, Cogdill’s right hand appeared to be swollen. He told police he had been trying to help Jamison recover before he called 911 and hurt his hand.
