Following a press conference held by Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst, flanked by her successful staff of prosecutors after a 70 year prison term was handed down to Markus Kaarma, KGVO News spoke with Celal Dede, the father of slain German exchange student, Diren Dede.

Dede, through his attorney and interpreter Bernhard Docke, said he was relieved to see Kaarma receive such a lengthy sentence.

"When you have 70 years, it was kind of a relief, and he was a bit happy about that," Docke said. "The case is not yet closed. The appeal is going on, and probably a civil lawsuit will start, and so the pain will stay for a lifetime, 24/7 for the rest of the family, so you can't say the case is closed."

Asked about his reaction when Kaarma's mother apologized for the pain caused by the loss of his son, Celal Dede said he did not believe she was being sincere. Dede called out from the gallery 'It's too late', when Mrs. Kaarma apologized while on the stand.

"He doesn't think that the sympathy of the mother and the Kaarma family toward the Dede family was based on real feelings," he said. "It comes too late, and it seems to be based on a tactic to get a lower sentence, but it doesn't express real feelings."

Diren Dede, 17, was shot to death by Markus Kaarma when he trespassed inside Kaarma's garage early in the morning of April 28, 2014. Those four shotgun blasts reverberated through the weeks and months, and ended with Kaarma being led away to serve a 70 year prison term.

 

More From 96.9 Zoo FM