Airman gets life in Mennonite’s death

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A U.S. Air Force airman has been sentenced to life in prison in the death of a Mennonite woman whom he kidnapped from northwestern New Mexico, fatally shot and left in the freezing cold outside Flagstaff, Ariz.

Mark Gooch, 22, was convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping in October. The body of Sasha Krause, 27, was found face-down in a forest clearing with her hands bound with duct tape. She had been shot in the head.

Gooch expressed no emotion when he was sentenced Wednesday in Coconino County Superior Court.

Prosecutors argued that Gooch was driven by a disdain for the Mennonite faith that he grew up with in Wisconsin, exhibited by text message exchanges with his brothers. Gooch’s attorney tried to raise doubt with jurors that Gooch was responsible.

Gooch and Krause didn’t know each other but both grew up in big families and in the Mennonite church. While Krause joined, Gooch rejected the faith and enlisted in the Air Force where he worked as a mechanic.

Authorities used cellphone and financial records and surveillance video to tie Gooch to the crimes.