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Man gets prison term in another man’s death by hypothermia

TRENTON, Neb. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to at least 50 years in prison in connection with the death of another man who had been left in a rural area of southwest Nebraska and died of hypothermia.

The Nebraska attorney general’s office says 25-year-old John R. Leahy was sentenced Monday in Hitchcock County District Court to 24 to 30 years for kidnapping, 18 to 20 years for manslaughter and 8 to 10 years of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine.

Leahy was earlier found guilty of charges related to the death of 22-year-old Austin Wright, who was reported missing March 9, 2014. His body was found April 11, 2014, in a small oil well injection site shelter.

He died of hypothermia. An investigation shows Leahy punched Wright, then took him to a remote area and left him.

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