Bohnenkemper sentenced to prison in 2018 shooting death

A Holton man charged with second-degree murder in the September 2018 shooting death of his father will spend the next 10 years in prison, it was noted in Jackson County District Court.

Derrick G. Bohnenkemper, 51, was sentenced on Friday to 155 months — one month short of 13 years — in prison by District Court Judge Norbert Marek on the second-degree murder charge during a Zoom hearing.

Judge Marek credited Bohnenkemper with 871 days — roughly 29 months — of prior incarceration, leaving Bohnenkemper with 126 months, or 10 years and six months, of his sentence left to serve as of Friday. That sentence could be reduced by as much as 15 percent under “good time” guidelines, Marek noted.

Bohnenkemper had originally been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of his father, Gaylen Bohnenkemper, and several other charges connected to an armed standoff with Jackson County sheriff’s officers in a Sept. 18, 2018, incident that occurred at a residence north of Holton.

In December, Marek accepted a no-contest plea from Bohnenkemper on the reduced charge and dismissed all remaining aggravated assault charges against him, based on a plea deal drafted by Holton defense attorney Jason Belveal and approved by Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller.

Bohnenkemper, who Belveal said had no prior criminal record prior to the September 2018 incident, had spent more than half a year undergoing competency evaluations at Larned State Hospital in connection with the incident, it was reported.

In a sentencing memorandum filed two days prior to the sentencing hearing, Belveal described Bohnenkemper as a “mild-mannered, soft-spoken man with an unfortunate history of mental illness.” Bohnenkemper had sought treatment for mental health issues “long before” the incident, Belveal said.

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