In a pronouncement from Rice County District Court, Cody Vernon Kolstad was dealt a 25-year sentence on Friday for the second-degree intentional murder of his housemate, Brian Daniel Stoeckel. The tragic incident that shook Morristown unfolded on May 31, 2022, with Kolstad pleading guilty to the crime on March 28. A first-degree intentional murder charge was dismissed as part of the plea deal, as reported by the county's official announcement.
Admitting to his drug-fueled state on the night of the murder during the plea, Kolstad confessed, "started talking about how one of us had to die by midnight so I shot him." He acknowledged in court his possession and use of a shotgun, which he pointed at Stoeckel, subsequently firing with lethal intent, according to the Rice County website. The crime, as he affirmed, was born from the twilight of his impaired judgment, inebriated and ensnared in the grasp of narcotics.
Emotional testimony punctuated the sentencing as two of Stoeckel's friends and his sister, Amy Kraemer, depicted their lost loved one and expressed their sorrow. "Cody, you took our star. He didn’t burn out; you made that fire go out," Kraemer said, her words cut with grief. It was a sentiment that struck the marrow, revealing a family and community hollowed by the abrupt end of a life that once burned bright. District Court Judge Karie M. Anderson didn't shy away from the gravity of Kolstad's choices. Although she acknowledged his responsibility-taking, she pressed him to engage in prison programming, with a poignant emphasis on his duty to Stoeckel's memory as conveyed in the official statement.
Rice County Attorney Brian Mortenson, who prosecuted the case, reflected on the outcome, underscoring both the gravity of the sentence and what it symbolized for those left to mourn. "While no plea agreement can ever undo the profound loss, today’s sentence holds the defendant accountable for his actions and, we hope, offers some measure of closure to the victim’s family, friends," Mortenson said in a remark noting the community's deep-cutting affliction. Having been held in custody since the crime, Kolstad's jail time to date, 1,068 days, will be credited to his prison term, and with a nominal fine imposed, the monetary aspect was deemed symbolic at best in the quest for justice.
