A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the 2020 death of an 18-year-old Amish girl.
Justo Smoker was sentenced Friday to 35 and a half to 71 years in prison, with an additional 17 and a half years that could be added for a parole violation, in the death of Linda Stoltzfoos.
He also pleaded guilty to kidnapping, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and possession of an instrument of crime.
While the Stoltzfoos family did not appear in court finding it too emotional, Smoker apologized to the family saying 'I know Linda was a light. Because of me, the world is dimmer. All I can say is I'm sorry.'
Justo Smoker, 34, was charged with homicide in December in connection with Stoltzfoos' killing
Linda Stoltzfoos, 18 (left and right), was strangled to death and stabbed in the neck while walking home from church in the Bird-in-Hand area of Lancaster on June 21 last year
The family spokesperson Samuel Blank described Stoltzfoos as a caring, loving, timid teen with a big heart for children who needed help.
District Attorney Heather Adams addressed the plea deal that Smoker was given, explaining that it was necessary to locate Stoltzfoos' body to give her a proper burial.
The young girl's remains were found in rural Pennsylvania in April, 10 months after her disappearance.
The Lancaster County coroner used dental records to positively identify the body of Linda Stoltzfoos. The cause of death was asphyxia from strangulation, along with suffocation, the coroner, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, said following the autopsy. He said the stab wound was a contributing factor in her death.
Stoltzfoos was last seen walking home from church in the Bird-in-Hand area on June 21, 2020. Her remains were wrapped in a tarp and buried in a 3 foot deep grave along railroad tracks behind Dutchland Inc, a business where Smoker had worked. It is in the small town of Gap along Route 41.
Smoker, 35, of Paradise, was charged with homicide in December after being arrested in August. Officials previously said that the suspect's DNA was discovered on the victim's stocking.
Mervin Fisher, an uncle to Linda Stoltzfoos, told Pennlive that the family had hoped she would be found alive, but had been preparing for the worst.
'The not knowing is a long, dark tunnel without an end. And when you find the remains, you have the end in sight,' Fisher told Pennlive. 'It brings closure, and when there's closure, the healing process can continue.
When the body was discovered, local resident Debbie Matteoda said, 'For the family I feel terrible because they keep all this hope all this time that maybe she will show up, but then again it's a closure.'
Prosecutors have said friends and family reported that Stoltzfoos was happy and had never expressed any desire to leave.
Smoker was initially charged with felony kidnapping and misdemeanor false imprisonment then with homicide.
Adams said, 'Smoker's conduct on and around the time of Linda's kidnapping, along with physical evidence, supports the allegations that he kidnapped and murdered her.'
Stoltzfoos was reported missing on the evening of Father's Day by her dad after she failed to return home from a youth group she planned to
