Gunman Gets 40 Years in Guardsman’s Murder

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - A South St. Paul man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for fatally shooting a Minnesota National Guardsman last August.

Twenty-six-year-old Aaron Allen was sentenced Tuesday in the killing of Staff Sgt. Brandon Horst of St. Paul.

Allen pleaded guilty in March to second-degree intentional murder and agreed to the prison term. He testified at his plea hearing that he shot Horst because he believed that Horst had abused his wife, causing her to miscarry three times when she never was pregnant.

Reports say Allen apologized in court to Horst's family.

Allen testified that Horst's wife, Heather Horst, promised him $100,000 to kill her husband.

Heather Horst was convicted in May for her role in the murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.