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    Makuey gets life in prison for east Des Moines slaying

    Makuey was convicted in December after a bench trial in front of District Judge Jeffrey Farrell
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    Makuey gets life in prison for east Des Moines slaying

    Grant Rodgers, grodgers@dmreg.com 11:05 a.m. CST January 4, 2016
    Ngor Makuey, 20, talks to his lawyers before beingBuy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, 20, talks to his lawyers before being sentenced to life in prison on Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, at the Polk County courthouse for the murder of Rupert Anderson, 97, in Pleasant Hill in July of 2014. He was also convicted of assault with intent to commit serious injury, as well as robbery and burglary.  Kelsey Kremer/The Register
    Buy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, 20, is sentenced to life in prison onBuy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, 20, is sentenced to life in prison on Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, at the Polk County courthouse for the murder of Rupert Anderson, 97, in Pleasant Hill in July of 2014. He was also convicted of assault with intent to commit serious injury, as well as robbery and burglary.  Kelsey Kremer/The Register
    Buy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, 20, is sentenced to life in prison onBuy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, 20, is sentenced to life in prison on Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, at the Polk County courthouse for the murder of Rupert Anderson, 97, in Pleasant Hill in July of 2014. He was also convicted of assault with intent to commit serious injury, as well as robbery and burglary.  Kelsey Kremer/The Register
    Buy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, 20, is sentenced to life in prison onBuy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, 20, is sentenced to life in prison on Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, at the Polk County courthouse for the murder of Rupert Anderson, 97, in Pleasant Hill in July of 2014. He was also convicted of assault with intent to commit serious injury, as well as robbery and burglary.  Kelsey Kremer/The Register
    Buy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, 20, talks to his lawyer before being sentencedBuy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, 20, talks to his lawyer before being sentenced to life in prison on Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, at the Polk County courthouse for the murder of Rupert Anderson, 97, in Pleasant Hill in July of 2014. He was also convicted of assault with intent to commit serious injury, as well as robbery and burglary.  Kelsey Kremer/The Register
    Buy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School studentBuy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School student accused of beating to death an elderly couple in Des Moines last year, was found guilty of first degree murder, as well as other charges, at the Polk County Courthouse in Des Moines on Friday, Dec. 11, 2015.   Bryon Houlgrave/The Register
    Buy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School studentBuy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School student accused of beating to death an elderly couple in Des Moines last year, was found guilty of first degree murder, as well as other charges, at the Polk County Courthouse in Des Moines on Friday, Dec. 11, 2015.   Bryon Houlgrave/The Register
    Buy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School studentBuy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School student accused of beating to death an elderly couple in Des Moines last year, was found guilty of first degree murder, as well as other charges, at the Polk County Courthouse in Des Moines on Friday, Dec. 11, 2015.   Bryon Houlgrave/The Register
    Buy Photo
    Judge Jeffrey Farrell found Ngor Makuey, a former SoutheastBuy Photo
    Judge Jeffrey Farrell found Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School student accused of beating to death an elderly couple in Des Moines last year, guilty of first degree murder, as well as other charges, at the Polk County Courthouse in Des Moines on Friday, Dec. 11, 2015.   Bryon Houlgrave/The Register
    Buy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School studentBuy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School student accused of beating to death an elderly couple in Des Moines last year, was found guilty of first degree murder, as well as other charges, at the Polk County Courthouse in Des Moines on Friday, Dec. 11, 2015.   Bryon Houlgrave/The Register
    Buy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School studentBuy Photo
    Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School student accused of beating to death an elderly couple in Des Moines last year, was found guilty of first degree murder, as well as other charges, at the Polk County Courthouse in Des Moines on Friday, Dec. 11, 2015.   Bryon Houlgrave/The Register
    Buy Photo
    The family of an elderly Des Moines couple leave theBuy Photo
    The family of an elderly Des Moines couple leave the courtroom after Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School student, was found guilty of first degree murder, as well as other charges, at the Polk County Courthouse in Des Moines on Friday, Dec. 11, 2015.   Bryon Houlgrave/The Register
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      • Ngor Makuey, 20, talks to his lawyer before being sentenced
      • Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School student
      • Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School student
      • Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School student
      • Judge Jeffrey Farrell found Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast
      • Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School student
      • Ngor Makuey, a former Southeast Polk High School student
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      A Des Moines man who beat an elderly man to death in his home was sentenced to life in prison after a fast and quiet sentencing hearing Monday morning.
      Ngor Makuey, 20, was convicted in December of first-degree murder in the death of Rupert Anderson, 97, who was attacked alongside his wife, Harriet, in their east Des Moines home on July 2, 2014.
      The couple's daughter and grandson both sat in the courtroom through the hearing, but neither wanted to read a victim impact statement. Though Harriet Anderson survived the attack, she died in March.
      "This is a horrible, senseless crime, and they do not wish to make any comments to the defendant whatsoever," said Assistant Polk County Attorney Jaki Livingston.
      Makuey, who was born in an Ethiopian refugee camp before coming with his family to the U.S. as a child, simply said "nope" when asked by District Court Judge Jeffrey Farrell whether he wanted to say anything before being given his sentence.
      Farrell convicted Makuey of first-degree murder, as well as assault, robbery and burglary charges after hearing all the evidence instead of a jury during a November trial.
      Prosecutors argued that Makuey broke into the Andersons' home to rob the couple — evidence that was bolstered by a jewelry box that police found had been moved onto their bed. A blood-stained grilling spatula that police retrieved from the townhome where Makuey lived was found by investigators to be the murder weapon.
      But Makuey's public defenders argued that the former Southeast Polk High School student was legally insane at the time of the attack. The lawyers called a Mount Pleasant psychologist as their lone witness, Dr. Luis Rosell, who testified that Makuey suffered from visual and auditory hallucinations and believed that creatures were controlling his body through the killing.
      Prosecutors, however, called a longtime Cumming psychiatrist, Dr. Michael Taylor, who also examined Makuey and called his claims of hallucinations "scientifically preposterous." Taylor testified at trial that Makuey told him that a green man with four arms would sometimes enter and control his body.
      Makuey arrived in a Polk County courtroom just before 8:30 a.m. on Monday morning wearing a jail uniform. After the hearing, he smiled and shook hands with both of his attorneys.
      Makuey's mother testified at his trial, but was not in the courtroom on Monday.
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