DULUTH, Minn. — A St. Louis County judge has sentenced a Hibbing man to more than 28 years in prison for the murder of a 71-year-old woman.
Blake Stangel, 53, was sentenced to 340 months after pleading guilty last fall to second-degree intentional murder in the death of Courtney Fenske, who was found dead in her Hibbing home in Nov. 2017. Stangel also pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sale of a controlled substance.
Stangel was first accused of Fenske's murder shortly after her death, but at the time, prosecutors said they didn't have enough evidence to arrest him. However, on May 24, 2021, Stangel was arrested on unrelated charges, which led to Stangel voluntarily providing a DNA sample. That sample was then tested against DNA found at the scene of Fenske's death and proved to be a match.
Fenske was found dead in her home on Nov. 26, 2017, after her mail carrier requested a welfare check. Fenske's autopsy later showed she had been strangled.
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