St. Cloud Man Sentenced for 2022 Murder

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- A man who pleaded guilty for his role in a 2022 St. Cloud murder has been sentenced.

A Stearns County judge Monday afternoon sentenced 55-year-old Paul Coleman to 16 years in prison for the shooting death of 39-year-old Michael Batsche.

Coleman pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting 2nd-degree murder in March.

A co-defendant, 44-year-old Alphonso Cotto, was sentenced to 22 years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to 2nd-degree murder.

St. Cloud Police were called to a home in the 1200 block of 10th Avenue South on May 24th, 2022. Officers arrived to find a man lying on the floor by the back door with a gunshot wound to his head.

Records show footage from the home's motion cameras saw the victim alone in the backyard before the shooting. Roughly ten minutes later the camera is activated again showing Coleman and Cotto, near a detached garage facing near the back door where the victim was found.

Court records show Coleman could be seen holding a gun in his right hand. Coleman and Cotto are then seen running to a vehicle registered to Coleman.