A Brown County judge will sentence a Bloomington man Thursday for the murder of 22-year-old IU student Hannah Wilson.
Daniel Messel faces up to 85 years in prison.
A jury convicted Messel in August of murdering Hannah Wilson in April, 2015. Murder in Indiana carries a sentence of 45-65 years.
But, the jury went on to establish Messel as an habitual offender, since he was previously convicted of at least one other felony.
That adds up to 20 years to his sentence.
All felony offenders in Indiana can get time off of their sentence for good behavior. Messel will be eligible for one day off of his sentence for every three days that he serves without breaking prison rules.
Even if Brown County Judge Judith Stewart gives Messel the minimum sentence and Messel gets the maximum time off for good behavior, he’ll serve at least 50 years in prison.
That’s effectively a life sentence for the 52-year-old.
