‘SENSELESS AND MINDBOGGLING’

Airman Gets Life in Prison for Kidnapping, Killing Mennonite Woman

Sasha Krause vanished in New Mexico while gathering material for a Sunday school class. More than a month later, her body was found hundreds of miles away.

An Air Force member convicted of kidnapping and murdering a 27-year-old Mennonite woman was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday. Sasha Krause vanished from her secluded New Mexico community in January 2020 while gathering material for Sunday school classes. Her body was found hundreds of miles away in Arizona more than a month later. She had been shot in the back of the head, officials said at the time. Coconino County Judge Cathleen Brown Nichols called the case “senseless and mindboggling” while sentencing Mark Gooch, a 22-year-old airman first class. Prosecutors said that Gooch, who was raised around the Mennonite faith in Wisconsin, was driven by a scorn for the community. “Now, instead of honorably serving his nation, he is going to serve a humiliating life term in prison,” Coconino County Attorney William Ring said after the sentencing hearing.