A man who committed a brutal murder and rape in Burney more than 40 years ago has agreed to a life sentence. On the night of December 14th, 1984 two teenagers were sitting in a car on Mountain View Road near Burney High School. 18-year-old Terry Arndt and an 18-year-old female whose name will not be made public were talking when they were interrupted by then-23-year-old Roger Neil Schmidt, who drove up to them and got out of his car with a gun in his hand. When Schmidt started shooting, Arndt used his body to block the woman and protect her from the gunfire. After Ardnt was mortally wounded and incapacitated, Schmidt sexually assaulted the young woman multiple times before leaving. She got behind the wheel and drove the car seeking help, ending up at the intersection of Main and Marquette Streets. Over the past 40 years, 34 different investigators spent thousands of hours on the case. Last year a new DNA technique was used, leading detectives to Schmidt, who had moved to Tuscon, Arizona. Monday Schmidt accepted a plea deal that gives him a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Formal sentencing will be on December 16th.
-Steve Gibson