My family changed forever. And ever. And ever. And ever.
Specifically my mom, and grandma and aunts on my moms side of the family. Not only did they lose a sister, but they lost a brother-in-law, and part of their soul and their nephew who is spending life in prison.
Around approximately 10:30am on Saturday October 8th, 2005, I got a phone call that would change everything
That’s all that needs to be said, just know that I don’t wish what happened to our family, to my worst enemy.
Published: March 16, 2006
Edition: METRO
Section: NEWS
Page#: 1B
Correction: The tears and remorse finally came Wednesday when Matthew Niedere, 18, was sentenced for the murders of his parents at their Hastings business.
‘I hurt everyone I know,’ teen says
Matthew Niedere and Clayton Keister were sentenced to 30 years for killing Niedere‘s parents last October.
By Jim Adams
Staff Writer
CORRECTION+
The tears and remorse finally came Wednesday when Matthew Niedere, 18, was sentenced for the murders of his parents at their Hastings business.
In a standing-room-only courtroom, Niedere began crying as his brother’s wife recounted her pain and shock to learn that his parents – her toddler’s grandparents – had been killed in their auto glass shop.
“Matt, you were a great uncle to Austin and brother to Dan and brother-in-law to me. But in the blink of an eye you tore our family apart,” said a tearful Angela Niedere, 22. “I hope you think about your family and are truly sorry for what you’ve done.”
County Attorney James Backstrom chastised Niedere and classmate Clayton Keister, 17, for blaming each other two weeks ago when they pleaded guilty to aiding first-degree murder while attempting to commit aggravated robbery. However, he offered them a plea agreement under which they will serve at least 30 years in prison for killing Peter and Patty Niedere. Backstrom dropped another murder charge that carried a life-without-parole sentence.
He agreed to the pleas, Backstrom said, after talking with Niedere‘s family and considering research that shows teenage brain development, including impulse and aggression control, isn’t complete until youths reach their 20s. That may help explain why some kids seem to lack the ability to understand the consequences of their actions, he said.
Before the sentencing, Niedere took the stand.
“I hurt everyone I know,” he said.
“I want to apologize to my family,” Niedere said. “I hurt them the most.”
Niedere also apologized for exaggerating to officials how bad his arguments were with his parents and for blaming Keister for plotting the murders.
“I tried to blame other people for what I had done,” he said. “I brought my best friend into a situation that no one should have to go through.”
Niedere also urged other troubled kids to talk to their parents, and urged parents to get the truth out of their kids “no matter how much they try not to tell you.”
Dakota County District Judge Timothy McManus imposed a sentence of 30 years before the two will be eligible for parole, and ordered them to pay funeral and family counseling costs of about $22,500.
After the sentencing, Backstrom and family members said this was the first time they had seen sincere remorse expressed by the two friends, who both apologized and admitted their roles in the killings.
Always a grandson
Marion Rohr, Patricia Niedere‘s mother, said she thought her grandson “is finally remorseful … I hated what he did, but he will always be my grandson.”
Jeanne Loesch said the loss of her sister and husband has been overwhelming but the family has pulled together. “Some days you feel like falling apart, you miss Patty and Pete so much,” she said. “You can forgive, but it’s hard to forget. Pete and Patty would definitely want us to forgive.”
Niedere and Keister both said they know God will forgive them, but they don’t know if they can forgive themselves for what Keister called “an incredibly stupid and devastating plan.”
Niedere admitted firing a pistol at his father and mother until it ran out of bullets and then asking Keister to finish his mother off with a shotgun. Police tracked them down that night, and a third suspect, Jamie Patton, was found the next day.
Patton, 18, rejected a plea offer Wednesday and faces trial on murder conspiracy charges in May. His attorney, Bruce Rivers, said he will argue that Patton withdrew from the conspiracy after he and Keister bungled a murder attempt at the Niederes’ home the night before the couple were killed.
Backstrom said drugs, alcohol and mental illness were not factors in the shooting, but maybe the teenagers’ immature brains played a role.
Minneapolis psychologist David Walsh has studied such adolescent research and wrote a recent book about it: “Why Do They Act That Way? A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen.”
“The teenage brain is not the finished product we thought it was,” Walsh said. “The real breakthrough on this came six or seven years ago, when we found the executive center, the prefrontal cortex, undergoes major wiring during teenage years. That is the part that helps us think ahead to consider consequences and manage emotional impulses and energy.”
Walsh noted that during the eight years of adolescence, teenage boys’ production of testosterone increases tenfold and that can lead to strong reactions when youths are frustrated by parents, school or peers.
Peer pressure can also make teenagers do violent things they wouldn’t do alone, Walsh said.
If you compare the teenage brain to a car, he said, “the gas peddle is to the floor and the brakes are on back order.”
