Court imposes life sentence in murder case

SANDPOINT - A former Bonner County man convicted of murder in North Dakota was sentenced to life without parole Tuesday, the Williston Herald reported.

The sentence in Jonathan Peter Horvath's case was reported on the newspaper's social media accounts. A news report on Horvath's hearing is pending.

A jury convicted Horvath of murder, reckless endangerment and two counts of terrorizing in connection with the shooting death of Derrick Spiegel in Williston in March 2013.

Spiegel, 28, was shot when the group he was with clashed with Horvath's group outside a strip club. Horvath told a jury that he armed himself in an attempt to de-escalate the situation and Spiegel was killed when the gun accidentally discharged during the scuffle.

Horvath, 46, was seeking employment as a steelworker in the oil fields at the time of the shooting. He was living in Alexander, N.D., according to a Wahpeton Daily News report.

Horvath's trial was moved to Wahpeton due to extensive pretrial publicity. He was convicted earlier this year and unsuccessfully moved for an acquittal and a new trial.