KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- Col. Vance Spath, presiding military judge, sentenced Staff Sgt. Nicholas Cron to life without parole, reduction in rank to airman basic, forfeiture of all military pay and a dishonorable discharge after a two-week long sentencing hearing Feb. 9.

On Jan. 30, Cron pled guilty to premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and obstruction of justice charges in relation to the murder of Tech. Sgt. Curtis Eccleston, a 733rd Air Mobility Squadron co-worker, who was found dead in his off-base residence Feb. 6, 2011. Before sentencing, the convening authority, Lt. Gen. Burton Field, approved a plea agreement to remove a potential death sentence from the court's consideration.

Cron was apprehended on Feb. 13 last year, and has since been held at the Marine Corps Brig at Camp Hansen, Okinawa. Japanese police arrested Eccleston's widow, Barbara Keiko Eccleston, that same week due to her suspected connection in the murder case. She is currently being held by local authorities while awaiting trial.