Nathan Summerfield will serve a minimum of 30 years in prison after pleading guilty Monday to one count of second-degree murder and two kidnapping charges in the 2012 killing of Lynn Jackenheimer on Hatteras Island.
Superior Court Judge Jerry Tillett imposed consecutive sentences on what were described as heinous crimes aggravated by the use of a deadly weapon, a knife, and the young age of one of the kidnapping victims, the couple’s son.
The maximum total sentence will 39 years on charges of murder, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree kidnapping.
Jackenheimer, also from Ashland, was last seen alive on the night of July 3, chasing ghost crabs with her two children. Summerfield later dropped the children off with relatives in Ohio, and disappeared.
The 13-year-old girl, Jackenheimer’s daughter from a previous relationship, and the 3-year-old boy, her son with Summerfield, were unharmed. He was eventually tracked down and arrested on Aug. 15 in an Ohio motel room.
After a frantic search by law enforcement officials and friends and family, Jackenheimer’s body was found on July 14 in the brush off a Frisco cul-de-sac. She was 33.
Summerfield had appeared in court just last week for a routine hearing on legal motions for a trial, which had been scheduled to start Feb. 2.
Then, just days later, today’s hearing was suddenly scheduled.
Check back soon for more coverage of today’s court developments.
