GREAT FALLS — A Montana judge has rejected a request for a lighter sentence for a man serving three consecutive life sentences for a triple homicide committed when he was 17.
Steven Keefe won a chance at re-sentencing largely because of U.S. Supreme Court rulings that life sentences for juveniles should be reserved for the most egregious cases. District Judge Gregory Pinski ruled Thursday that Keefe’s case was one of them.
The Great Falls Tribune reports that Keefe’s lawyer detailed his abusive early childhood and attributed his crimes to the impulsive actions of a teen boy.
However, Pinski said Keefe’s crimes didn’t represent immaturity but “irreparable corruption” as defined by the Supreme Court. He noted that Keefe had 47 convictions before he killed David and Constance McKay and their 40-year-old daughter Marian McKay Qamar.