Craig Julian, who was sentenced to mandatory life without parole three days before his 20th birthday, was later resentenced for his role in the 2010 killing of Lynn M. Spicer.
The resentencing marked a new chapter in a legal saga stretching back more than a decade, more than four years after an appeals court first upheld Julian's conviction, according to MLive.com.
A jury convicted Julian in June 2011 of first-degree murder and disinterment or mutilation of a dead body in Spicer's strangulation death, according to a separate MLive.com report. Spicer, a 33-year-old mother of three, had moved from Endicott, New York, to Bay City in late 2009 and was the girlfriend of Julian's older brother, Jeffrey A. Julian, per the same outlet. Craig Julian was 19 at the time and helped his older brother bury her body, the report states.
From Mandatory Life to a Second Chance at Sentencing
Bay County Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran originally sentenced Craig Julian to mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole in August 2011, a decision the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld in December 2012 when it affirmed his conviction for aiding and abetting his brother in the murder.
Defense Pushed for 25-Year Minimum
Julian's defense attorney, Robert J. Dunn, argued that his client's new minimum sentence should not exceed 25 years.
The linked statute sets a 180-day deadline for prosecutors seeking life without parole again in cases involving defendants who were under 18 at the time of their crimes, according to the Michigan Legislature.
The case began with Lynn M. Spicer's 2010 disappearance in Bay City after she moved from New York, and has since included a conviction, an appeal and resentencing.
