74-year-old gets life term in old grudge killing

MADISON, S.D. (AP) -- A 74-year-old South Dakota man who pleaded guilty but mentally ill to fatally shooting his long-ago classmate in a grudge reaching back decades has been given a mandatory life prison sentence.

Carl Ericsson of Watertown was charged in the Jan. 31 killing of retired Madison High School teacher and track coach Norman Johnson. Johnson was shot twice in the face after answering his door at his Madison home.

Ericsson pleaded guilty but mentally ill last month to a second-degree murder charge and was sentenced Friday. Johnson's two daughters read statements during the hearing.

An arrest affidavit suggests the incident might have been sparked by a decades-old grudge that originated when Johnson and Ericsson were students at Madison High. In his plea, Ericsson didn't specify the incident that sparked the grudge.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)