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A Payson man was sentenced Friday to spend up to the rest of his life in prison for luring his alleged drug dealer to a vacant parking lot, where the victim was killed and robbed to get money for Christmas and an engagement ring.
In November, Stephan Sutton admitted that though his then-girlfriend, 22-year-old Chaelisa Nielsen, was involved in the crime, he was the one who pulled the trigger and killed 28-year-old Jeffrey Vern Jensen on Nov. 23, 2012.
Sutton, 28, was sentenced to spend at least 15 years and up to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder.
Fourth District Judge Lynn Davis also ordered Sutton to serve five years to life on a first-degree felony aggravated robbery conviction, a one-to-15-year term for second-degree felony obstructing justice and up to five years in prison for third-degree felony escape from custody.
The judge ruled that the first- and second-degree felonies will run consecutive to one another, while the escape charge will run concurrent with the other sentences.
Earlier this month, Nielsen was sentenced to spend 15 years to life in prison, after she pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder.
At her sentencing hearing, Jensen's father, Kevin Jensen, told the judge that his son was a loving man, who was independent and loved football and fishing. He said he thinks about all of the things he'll never do with his son — long drives, birthdays, seeing him have children.
"What right did this woman have to take my son from me?" he said between sobs. "What right did she have to strip our family of our precious little boy?"
Sutton and Nielsen had planned for about a week to rob Jensen of drugs and money, according to charging documents. They arranged to buy oxycodone pills that would have cost them about $1,000 and met Jensen at a vacant, unlit parking lot at the old Flying J in Payson.
Sutton drove up with a shotgun on his lap, pointed the gun at Jensen and demanded the victim's belongings, according to court documents. When Jensen objected, police say, Sutton shot him in the chest at point-blank range, then reloaded the gun and gave it to Nielsen.
Charging documents state that Nielsen encouraged Sutton to shoot Jensen and that the two had always planned to kill Jensen so as to leave no witnesses to the crime.
After the shooting, Sutton searched Jensen's body and took the victim's money, drugs and cellphone, court documents state.
As the couple fled the parking lot, police said, they argued about where they should take the truck to wash off Jensen's blood.
At that point, a Payson officer spotted the truck tailgating another vehicle and decided to pull it over.
Sutton tried to avoid the officer and threw the shotgun out the window.