Couture sentenced to life

POLSON - James Arthur Couture, convicted of shooting 19-year-old Daniel McLeod 19 times for stealing marijuana, was recently sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole, even though his attorney argued that a pre-sentence investigation was full of false statements.

Defense attorney John Putikka asked District Judge Kim Christopher to sentence Couture to 40 years with 30 years suspended for the deliberate homicide charge, and 10-year sentences on the two evidence tampering charges.

As the judge handed down the life sentence, she had the court remember the victim with 19 seconds of silence.