Former Kalispell Man Convicted in Texas Murder

GATESVILLE, Texas – A former Kalispell man has been convicted of a Texas murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Stephen Hogankamp was sentenced last Friday in the 2006 killing of 71-year-old Kenneth Smith. Hogankamp was convicted of beating Smith to death and then setting the victim’s house on fire to cover up the killing.

Smith was a registered sex offender and Hogankamp maintained that he killed Smith because the older man sexually assaulted him.

The case turned cold after a subsequent search and $1,000 reward failed to turn up any suspects. Eight months later, the Montana state crime lab in Missoula found a DNA match linking Hogankamp to the arson and homicide, using a DNA sample Hogankamp was required to submit after a 2002 burglary conviction in Montana’s Flathead County.

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