Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Mail Tribune 100, Dec. 29, 1915 ... Searchers find snowboarders who spent the night lost on Mount Ashland ... Potentially dangerous conditions slow fire investigation at Butte Creek Mill ... Mail Tribune 100, Dec. 29, 1915 ... Searchers find snowboarders who spent the night lost on Mount Ashland ... Potentially dangerous conditions slow fire investigation at Butte Creek Mill ... CRIME Talent teen planned to kill woman, sexually abuse corpse Victim stabbed repeatedly but escaped Comment By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Posted Sep. 9, 2015 at 1:33 PM By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Posted Sep. 9, 2015 at 1:33 PM » Social News A Talent man pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other charges after he and another young man tried to kill a woman in hopes of sexually abusing her corpse. Michael Lawrence Koch-Prosser, now 20, pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree assault and first-degree conspiracy to commit abuse of a corpse. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the Jan. 3 attack on a Talent woman that took place when he was 19 years old. Co-defendant Eric Vale Henshaw, who was about to turn 19 at the time of the attack, is scheduled to stand trial in December. Also a Talent resident, Henshaw remains lodged in the Jackson County Jail on $5 million bail. He is related to the victim, who was 45 yeas old at the time. "The facts of this case are horrific," said Jackson County Senior Deputy District Attorney Laura Cromwell. She said the teens planned the attack two weeks in advance and had a list of potential targets. "They came up with an agreement to go to (the victim's) home, break in, kill her and sexually abuse her body after she was dead," Cromwell said. The teens went to the victim's house and asked to borrow a can of WD-40 spray lubricant in order to be let in. Henshaw then hit the victim on the head with an air soft pistol, Cromwell alleged. Cromwell said Koch-Prosser stabbed her multiple times while Henshaw repeatedly yelled, "Kill her! Kill her!" The victim was able to escape the house and neighbors called 911. She flat-lined twice on a hospital operating room table, lost roughly 10.5 pints of blood and suffered numerous injuries, including a cut artery, collapsed lung and multiple stab wounds, Cromwell said. Police later tracked the two teens to Tinseltown. "They went to go watch a movie after this," Cromwell said. Speaking in court with visible scars, the victim said she has permanent nerve damage and pain in her arm from the stab wounds. She said it hurts every time she coughs because doctors had to crack open her chest to repair the cut artery. She said she continues to have flashbacks and nightmares in which she feels the knife stabbing into her body. The victim said she doesn't understand why the two teens came after her and that their plan to rape a dead body "makes me want to vomit at the thought." Cromwell said the victim will experience pain and mental trauma for the rest of her life. "She's a remarkable woman. I don't think many people could have survived such a vicious attack," Cromwell said. One of Koch-Prosser's court-appointed defense attorneys read a letter in court in which the chubby, baby-faced 20-year-old said, "I don't understand how this happened." "I will never do anything remotely like this again," Koch-Prosser added in the letter. Defense attorney Jeni Feinberg said the attack by the teens mystified Koch-Prosser's relatives because it was so bizarre and out of character for him. "I don't think they comprehended what they did," Feinberg said of the two teens. Koch-Prosser's mother sat crying in the courtroom audience. The victim was also tearful. Jackson County Circuit Judge Timothy Barnack said the pain Koch-Prosser had caused to the victim and his own mother was very real. He said the crime was difficult to fathom. "It's incomprehensible. It is," Barnack said. Barnack advised Koch-Prosser to make good use of his time in prison. "Your demons are going to follow you. You have to figure out this demon inside of you that none of us know," Barnack said. Cromwell said the DA's office dropped a charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree rape because the teens had not planned to rape a living person. "There was a conspiracy to sexually abuse the corpse of our victim, had they gone that far. There was no conspiracy to commit rape," she said. The DA's office did not offer Koch-Prosser any deal in exchange for his decision to plead guilty to the remaining four charges, Cromwell said. The recommended sentence was 10 years in prison, which Barnack followed in sentencing Koch-Prosser. Asked whether the 10-year prison sentence was enough to keep the victim and society safe from Koch-Prosser, Cromwell said, "I don't think any amount of prison time is sufficient." Staff reporter Vickie Aldous can be reached at 541-776-4486 or [email protected] . Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/VickieAldous . By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Posted Sep. 9, 2015 at 1:33 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501