On May 19, 1966, after 8 hours of deliberation, a jury consisting of 8 men and 4 women found Gertrude Baniszewski guilty of first-degree murder and recommended a life sentence; Baniszewski guilty of second-degree murder; found guilty of manslaughter by Richard Hobbs, Coy Hubbard and John Baniszewski Jr. After hearing the judge announce the verdict, Gertrude and the children cried and tried to comfort each other, while Hobbs and Hubbard were unmoved. On May 25, Paula and Gertrude were formally sentenced to life in prison, and Richard, Coy and John Jr. were all sentenced to prison terms ranging from 2 to 21 years.
In September 1970, the Indiana Supreme Court overturned the judgments against Paula and Gertrude, citing the trial judge's repeated refusal of defense attorneys' motions to change venue and separate trials. In addition, the large amount of media coverage of the case created an unfavorable atmosphere of public opinion at the first instance, preventing the defense from receiving a fair ruling.
In 1971, the court held a second instance for the crimes committed by the two men. Paula Baniszewski voluntarily pleaded guilty to manslaughter without premeditated homicide and refused a retrial. She was sentenced to 2 to 21 years in prison. In 1971, Paula made two unsuccessful attempts to escape from prison, but was released in December 1972. Gertrude Baniszewski was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
After Gertrude was released on parole in 1985, he moved to Iowa. Gertrude never took responsibility for the harm she caused Sylvia, she always said she couldn't accurately recall the abuse and torture Sylvia suffered in her home, putting her own evil spirits behind her. The act was blamed on the asthma medication she was taking. Gertrude died of lung cancer on June 16, 1990, at the age of 61.
After Paula was released on parole in 1972, she changed her identity and changed her name to Paula Pace. Worked as a school counselor for 14 years in the BCLUW school district in Iowa, hiding his criminal record when applying for a position. In 2012, the school discovered Paula's true identity and fired her. Paula reportedly lives in a small town in Iowa and is married with two children. Paula's 1966 trial gave birth to a daughter named Gertrude who was later adopted.
The murder charge was dropped after 15-year-old Stephanie Baniszewski agreed to testify against all the accused as a tainted witness. The prosecution resubmitted the charges against Stephanie to a grand jury on May 26, 1966, but never brought a separate case against Stephanie. Stephanie Baniszewski became a teacher after changing her name, married and had children. Stephanie lives in Florida.
Following Gertrude's arrest, the Marion County Department of Public Welfare placed her three children, Mary, Shirley and James, in foster care with different families. Dennis Lee Wright Jr., who was later adopted, died on February 5, 2012, at the age of 47.
Richard Hobbs, Coy Hubbard and John Baniszewski Jr. served less than two years in juvenile detention and were released on parole on February 27, 1968.
Richard Hobbs died of lung cancer on January 2, 1972, at the age of 21, four years after his parole. Richard had at least one mental breakdown in those four years.
Coy Hubbard has remained in Indiana since his parole, without changing his name. As an adult, Hubbard was jailed for multiple crimes and was even charged with the murder of two young men in 1977, but was acquitted. In January 2007, Hubbard was fired shortly after the premiere of "Sin in the Pastoral America," based on the death of Sylvia Lakens. He died of a heart attack on June 23 of that year in Shelbyville, Indiana, at the age of 56.
John Baniszewski Jr., known as John Black, became a lay preacher, often counseling children of divorced parents. Decades after his release from juvenile detention, he issued a statement acknowledging that he and his co-defendants should have received harsher sentences at the time. He said juvenile delinquency can be rehabilitated and recounted the process of becoming a good citizen. On May 19, 2005, he died of diabetes at the age of 52. He occasionally spoke openly about Sylvia during his lifetime, and readily admits that he enjoyed the attention that Sylvia's death brought him.
Personal injury charges against Michael Monroe, Randy Leper, Darlene McGuire, Judy Duke and Anna Sisko were later dropped. Sisko died on October 23, 1996, at the age of 44; Leper died on November 14, 2010, at the age of 56. Leper once said with a smile that he had beaten Sylvia more than 40 times.
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