- Even the US Supreme Court has said
that there will be cases where life
is appropriate for juveniles.
[music playing]
DONNA MURRAY: Kristel was thrown out of her house.
She needed a place to stay.
She couldn't stay at Ron's house because you
can't have a girl living in your house,
not when you're a teenager.
So he didn't really know what to do.
So he got a job to try to help her find a place
that he could pay the rent.
I think, at the time, Ron thought
he was doing the right thing.
But he's a kid, and he's still going to school.
And to try to go to school, and deal with your home life,
and have a job and take care of your girlfriend,
I think all of these factors were very overwhelming for him.
The testimony was that Cordell Richards
sexually propositioned Kristel.
She alleged that he had forcibly tried
to approach her at some point.
When she refused, pushed her against a wall
and supposedly bruised her back.
Kristel told Ron what had happened,
and he was angered by it.
MAN: I think his relationship with Kristel
was basically want to protect her.
CLIFTON DRAKE: Ronald Bell put Cordell
Richards into a chokehold.
ROBERT ELMORE: Cordell Richards lost consciousness.
STAN GRIGGS: They rolled him into a rug,
put him in the back of their car.
They took him to a remote area, tied his hands,
chained him to a tree, and took turns hitting
him with a baseball bat.
ROBERT ELMORE: Both girls beat him with the bat.
And Ron took the bat and pointed the bat to this guy and said--
Look at me.
I'm Babe Ruth.
--and then struck Cordell as hard as he could
several times in the head.
We have blows to the sides of the body, the back.
The shoulder blades just shattered.
Extensive fracture.
He was brutalized.
ROBERT ELMORE: They beat him almost to death.
And then, according to Renee, Kristel said, you know,
let's burn him.
He begged them not to kill him.
STAN GRIGGS: They burned him alive.
ROBERT ELMORE: And then they left him.
FAY SEKETA: The trial lasted for three days.
The boy was 17.
The middle girl was 16.
And the youngest girl was 15.
And I think to have young people involved in a crime
like this is just--
we just didn't understand that.
When the trial was over, Kristel Maestas received
a life sentence without parole.
ROBERT ELMORE: We decided to offer Renee Lincks
a plea to a lesser crime.
CLIFTON DRAKE: Ronald Bell was 17 years old
and 10 months at the time he deliberately chose to torture
and murder Cordell Richards.
Originally, a jury unanimously recommended
that Ronald Bell be executed because of how
horrific this murder was.
[music playing]
A few years ago, the US Supreme Court determined
that juveniles cannot be sentenced to a mandatory
life imprisonment.
We now have to have this new sentencing hearing.
And so the victim's family relives this,
and it takes a toll on them.
[music playing]
The judge could, if he chose, sentence
Ronald Bell to 18 years in prison, meaning
Ronald Bell would be released.
The argument from the defense is that his brain was not
developed to the point where he was really thinking
the way an adult would.
He knew the difference between right and wrong.
He made horrible, horrible decisions.
But make no mistake, they were decisions.
STAN GRIGGS: He was kind of influenced by Kristel Maestas.
Men always do stuff they wouldn't
ordinarily do because of women.
Kristel was in an Air Force family.
Dad's away a lot.
Mom's handling the kids.
When they were together, I would consider it businesslike.
I didn't see any affection.
DONALD WITMYER: When you look at Ron's history in prison,
this behavior from age 17 isn't carrying through.
I mean, not even a fight.
What I want to show at the hearing
is that Ron is redeemable, that his father was a pastor,
and so Ron was exposed to that morality side of life.
Ronald Bell, he made choice after
choice in that two-day period.
The entire process took extensive planning
and showed goal-oriented decisions.
This is the man who ended Cordell Richard's life.
Judge, this defendant deserves a sentence of life imprisonment.
Having reviewed and carefully considered
all the relevant factors, the court
finds on count one first degree murder
with a deadly weapon a sentence of life is appropriate.
Therefore, the court sentences you, Ronald Bell,
to life imprisonment for the murder of Cordell Richards.
Thank you.
Make no mistake.
Kristel Maestas was very much involved in this.
She was participating, contributing, giving ideas.
She suggested lighting him on fire.
She's not an innocent bystander.
Yes, ma'am.
KELLY RICHARDS: Would you like to do that now?
Yes, ma'am.
I realize I'm probably the last person you'd like to be
hearing from, and I can't blame you. (CRYING)
I want you to know how sorry and ashamed
I am in causing you such pain.
I'm wanting you to have some sort of peace,
and I know you haven't.
I'm so sorry for everything you went through.
MAN: [inaudible]
ATTORNEY: Cordell Richards, he was beaten.
He was dragged in the middle of the woods.
He was set on fire.
I think when the court considers the heinousness of this crime,
this all screams for a continued sentence of life
without the possibility of parole.
The court has considered the evidence relating
to the offenses, the defendant's youth
and attendant circumstances.
After carefully considering the record, the testimony evidence,
and the arguments from the defense and the state presented
[inaudible],, the court finds on count one first degree murder
with a deadly weapon, a sentence of life is appropriate.
Therefore, the court sentences you, Kristel Maestas,
to life imprisonment for the murder of Cordell Richards.
KELLY RICHARDS: Thank you.
WILLIAM STONE: Thank you.