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Man pleads guilty, will serve at least 38 years for 2008 murder of Norfolk woman

Posted at 11:13 AM, Oct 03, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-03 11:13:05-04

NORFOLK, Va. – A North Carolina man charged in the 2008 murder of a Norfolk woman entered a guilty Alford Plea on Tuesday and was sentenced to serve 38 years of a life sentence in prison.

Michael Brown (Photo: Norfolk Sheriff’s Office)

Michael Ryan Brown was arrested in 2015 for the 2008 murder of Angela Lechlitner.

In January 2008, Lechlitner’s body was found at her house in the 2400 block of Shafer Street in Norfolk.

Her death was labeled a homicide by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, but her murder was unsolved.

Norfolk Police Department’s Homicide Section and Cold Case Section continued to pursue leads in the case.

In September 2015, Brown was arrested in Wayne County, North Carolina. At first he was charged with one count of second degree murder and later indicted by a grand jury. His charges were increased to two counts of Capital Murder, one count of Abduction with Intent to Defile, one count of Object Sexual Penetration and one count of Malicious Wounding.

In court on Tuesday, as part of a plea deal, Brown entered an Alford Plea of guilty to Capital Murder and Abduction with Intent to Defile and received a life sentence that was suspended on the condition that he serve 38 years with good behavior, plus 50 years of supervised probation. He must register as a sex offender and have no contact with the victim’s family.

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