A pipeline worker was formally sentenced to 499 months in prison for the 2008 asphyxiation death of a Park rapids woman.
Richard Derek Wright, 42, was taken earlier this summer to the Minnesota Correctional Facility - St. Cloud to begin serving his sentence in the death of 40-year-old Sonya Hennagir.
Wright pled guilty Aug. 18 to Second degree Murder and 2nd degree Criminal Sexual Conduct in a lea agreement approved by the victim's family.
Wright must serve nearly 28 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
At his plea hearing, Wright apologized and said the death occurred during a sexual encounter that went too far. Yet he admitted he intended to choke Hennagir until she passed out.
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He apologized again Thursday.
