MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- A judge sentenced a Patton, Mo., man to a decade in prison Thursday for stabbing a Bollinger County man in February after a night of heavy drinking.
Lawrence P. Schanda, 38, will serve most of the 10-year term handed down by Judge Ben Lewis because Missouri's "truth-in-sentencing" law requires individuals convicted of a dangerous felony serve a minimum of 85 percent of the sentence.
Schanda pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in October. In custody since his arrest in February, he is being held on a $100,000 cash-only bond.
Schanda stabbed his friend, a Sedgewickville, Mo., man, because Schanda had developed feelings for the victim's girlfriend, according to a probable-cause statement. The men had been drinking all day when Schanda stabbed the victim at a residence on County Road 204 near Meadow Heights school and fled in a stolen car, the statement said.
The victim was found by a friend, the statement said, who flagged down a Bollinger County deputy. The deputy found the victim alert and he allegedly told her: "Bubba gutted me," referring to a nickname of Schanda.
Schanda was staying on the victim's girlfriend's couch, but the woman told police she had no feelings for him. But Schanda was "protective" of her, she said, which might have been the motive for stabbing her boyfriend.
Schanda's lawyer, public defender Chris Davis, could not be reached for comment. Bollinger County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Gray, who had lobbied the judge for the full 15 years, said he was "pretty pleased" by the sentence. It should serve as a message to others, he said.
"Let people be aware that violent felonies get punished pretty seriously in Bollinger County," Gray said. "It's a tough sentence, especially knowing he won't even get to talk to a parole board for 8 1/2 years."
The victim has had two surgeries, Gray said, but is recovering.
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