The man who murdered the Spanish golfer Celia Barquín Arozamena was officially sentenced this Friday in Ames (Iowa) to life imprisonment, with no possibility of parole, in mandatory compliance with all the penalty, for the charge of first degree murder.
A judge from Story County (Iowa) announced on Friday the sentence against Collin Richards , 22, who will also have to pay $ 150,000 to the family of Barquin Arozamena. Richards pleaded guilty last June to the murder of the golfer of the State University.
On September 17, 2018, golfers will discover a golf bag with no one around them at Coldwater Golf Links in Ames, Iowa.
The body of Barquin Arozamena was found a short distance away, in a pond, with stab wounds on the upper part of the torso, head and neck. Police say Richards stabbed her while playing in a field near campus. Police investigators soon found Richards in a homeless camp near the camp and noticed that he had scratches on his face and a deep laceration in his left hand that he was trying to hide.
Police also found blood-covered clothes and a backpack in Richards' shop along with a knife that they said belonged to him. Another man who lived in the homeless camp reported that Richards had told him he had "the need to rape and kill a woman" the day before the murder.
"I want them to know how sincere I am. I want to show remorse for stripping a life of society and what is worse than a loving family," Richards wrote in a letter to the court this month. "I love the family and they know I'm sorry."
The family "does not give much credit to this apology at this time," said family lawyer Leon Vidaller to the newspaper "The Des Moines Register" in a story that was published Thursday.
Authorities have not been able to explain why Richards did it, which makes the loss even worse, Vidaller said. Richards' family and friends have said that his dependence on methamphetamine and other drugs probably led to mental health problems and violence.
Barquin Arozamena, originally from Puente San Miguel, won the Big 12 individual title of 2018, becoming the second Cyclone golfer to win medalist honors in a conference tournament, and advanced to the regional NCAA for the fourth consecutive year.
He also won the European amateur championship in July 2018, with a record 63 at the Penati Golf Resort in Slovakia in the third round.
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