According to a published report, a former US Air Force aviator was convicted of the kidnapping and brutal murder of Mennonite Sunday school teacher Sasha Krause.
On Wednesday, an Arizona jury found Mark Gooch, 22, guilty of the kidnapping and first-degree murder in the 2020 killing of Krause, 27, after pondering less than a full day, People reported.
Gooch stood in a military stance and showed no emotion when the verdict was pronounced, the Associated Press reported.
William Ring, an attorney for the Krause family in Coconino County, thanked the jury for their services and said his office would “seek quick justice,” the AP reported.
During the trial, Krause’s parents and others who shared the conservative Christian faith, including the director general of the Farmington Publishing Department, where Krause worked, were in the courtroom, the news agency reported.
Krause was reported missing on January 18 from her Mennonite community in Farmington, New Mexico. She had decided to run an errand before class at Farmington Mennonite Church but had never returned, azfamily.com reported.
Almost five weeks after her disappearance, Krause’s body was found hundreds of miles away in a clearing near Flagstaff, Arizona. A camper who had collected firewood made the grim discovery. Krause was found face down and covered in pine needles. Her wrists were cuffed in the head with one gunshot, the AP reported.
Coconino County’s detectives used cell phone recordings and surveillance videos suggesting Gooch had traveled from Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, where he was stationed in Farmington, People reported.
Gooch was arrested in April 2020, the news agency reported.
Gooch grew up, like Krause, in a Mennonite community in Wisconsin. He joined the U.S. Air Force after rejecting the religion, a report said.
During the trail, prosecutors said investigators found text messages between Gooch and his brother suggesting resentment towards the Mennonite community, People reported.
Before the verdict was read, the jury heard testimony for 10 days from people who knew the 27-year-old and from those involved in the investigation, including ballistics experts, who had different views about the type of rifle used in the shooting.
Jim Gooch testified that his son abandoned the Mennonite faith and joined the military because he lacked a converted heart, the AP reported
Among the jury, Gooch’s attorney Bruce Griffen attempted to cast reasonable doubt by stating the lack of forensic evidence and testimony about another car seen in the Mennonite community on the day Krause disappeared, azfamily.com reported.
There is no evidence that Krause knew Gooch, People reported.
Authorities also found inconsistencies in Gooch’s story, officials said.
Krause was a teacher with the Grandview Gospel Fellowship in Grandview, Texas for six years before moving to Farmington less than two years ago to work in the publishing service, azfamily.com reported.
Krause’s father, Bob Krause, told the AP on Wednesday that his daughter was “a person of deep faith who enjoys working and learning with children.” He also said she loved language and words, the news agency said.
The last stanza in a poem called “I don’t walk alone,” he said, “may have passed away in old age,” he said, but “it’s amazingly fitting for what seems to have happened to you,” the Associated Press reported.
According to one report, Gooch was convicted of a crime of theft and not just murder.
Gooch faces life imprisonment if he is sentenced on November 24th, the news agency reported.
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