Even after nearly 30 years, the name Michael Neugebauer instantly brings back shocking memories of a 15 year old son that shot and killed his father, mother, brother, and sister near Menokken, North Dakota in January,1992.  Each victim had been shot twice with a deer rifle. It became an national story when Michael and his teenage girlfriend went on the run.  Days later they were finally apprehended in Sarasota Florida.

All accounts back up the teenage girlfriend's story that she was completely unaware of the killings.  But she was very aware of the abusive nature of Michael's father to every  member of the family.  To her, Michael was escaping a hellish situation but she had realized something else had seriously changed. Prairie Public posted this story...

Neugebauer had gone into a rampage. He would later claim that he only remembered killing his father, but realized he had also killed his mother, sister and little brother. After the murders, he left town with his girlfriend...who didn’t know about the murders until they reached a hotel in Wisconsin. When he told her, he pinned her to the bed, and she said, “And I’m next?”  He reportedly said yes.

Chilling.

Michael is now serving four life sentences.  Regardless of the severity of their crimes, prisoners do have legal rights and Thursday, March 25th the North Dakota Supreme Court sided with Michael Neugebauer.

[¶1] Michael D. Neugebauer appeals a district court’s order denying his motion for sentence reduction. On appeal, Neugebauer argues the district court erred in denying his motion without allowing the motion to be heard. We reverse and remand for the district court to hold a hearing on Neugebauer’s motion.

So Michael Neugebauer will now have a chance to make a plea for a sentence reduction.  He's hampered by a number of prison escape attempts on his record, but his is a story that needs to be thoughtfully reviewed.


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