Eden Prairie Man Gets 60 Years For Murdering Parents

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – An Eden Prairie man faces more than 60 years in prison for the murder of his parents.

According to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, 38-year-old Nathan Lehman received two consecutive 367-month sentences for the murder of his mother Debra and his father Robert.

According to the criminal complaint, Lehman, who has a history of mental illness, methamphetamine addiction and assault on his parents, left their home in April 2017.

Lehman's parents reported him missing on May 8, 2017. Just over two weeks later, Eden Prairie police were sent to Robert Lehman's home when he did not show up for work.

Police found Robert and Debra Lehman in the upstairs bathroom, dead of apparent stab wounds and other injuries.

Nathan Lehman was arrested in Buffalo, with bloody clothes in the trunk of his car. He told police he stabbed his mother in the bathroom, then stabbed his father when Robert came in after hearing Debra scream.

He pleaded guilty to the murders in November.

The Hennepin County Attorney's Office said the county prosecutor offered Nathan Lehman 40 years in prison, but he rejected that deal in order of a straight plea. After both sides made their arguments, a judge set Nathan Lehman's sentence.

A court psychiatrist determined that while Nathan Lehman suffered from mental illness, he understood the wrongness of what he did. The cruelty of the murders was also a factor in the sentencing, the attorney's office said.