An Air Force airman convicted of kidnapping a woman from a Mennonite community in New Mexico and fatally shooting her in northern Arizona is set to be sentenced Wednesday.
Mark Gooch faces life in prison for the death of Sasha Krause. The two didn't know each other but both grew up in big families and in the Mennonite church. Krause joined, but Gooch rejected the faith and enlisted in the Air Force.
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An Air Force airman convicted of kidnapping a woman from a Mennonite community in New Mexico and fatally shooting her in northern Arizona is set to be sentenced Wednesday.
Krause went missing on Jan. 18, 2020, as she was gathering material for Sunday school outside the Mennonite church in Farmington, New Mexico. She had visited her family for the holidays in Grandview, Texas, less than three weeks earlier.
The community's frantic search for Krause turned up nothing.
Gooch has been jailed since his arrest in April 2020.
They shared pictures of Krause reading to children, with her family and on a snowy outing in Colorado so the judge could see her as more than a victim, Robert Krause told The Associated Press.
A Coconino County jury convicted Gooch, 22, of kidnapping and first-degree murder in October. Prosecutors argued he was driven by a disdain for the Mennonite faith, exhibited in text messages exchanges with his brothers. Gooch's attorney tried to raise doubt with jurors that Gooch was responsible.
This undated photo provided by Robert Krause shows his daughter, Sasha Krause, center, reading a book to children in Farmington, New Mexico. Krause was killed in early 2019. Air Force Airman Mark Gooch was found guilty of first-degree murder and will be sentenced Jan. 19, 2022. (Family PhotoRobert Krause via AP)
Krause went missing on Jan. 18, 2020, as she was gathering material for Sunday school outside the Mennonite church in Farmington, New Mexico. She had visited her family for the holidays in Grandview, Texas, less than three weeks earlier.
The Krauses didn't have a habit of taking family pictures, but Robert Krause said he had a feeling they might not have the chance to get together again. So they gathered in front of a cabinet that displayed dishes and took serious and silly photos.
Sasha Krause pulled out of the driveway at dark and bumped up against a pickup truck, knocking off her passenger side mirror as she started a 14-hour drive back to Farmington. Her parents were worried that she was traveling alone, but Robert Krause said she made it back safe, only to disappear weeks later.
This photo taken around Christmas 2019 and provided by Robert Krause shows members of the Krause family at their home in Grandview, Texas. Sasha Krause, shown wearing a light blue, patterned dress and head scarf, was killed in early 2019. Air Force Airman Mark Gooch was found guilty of first-degree murder of Sasha and will be sentenced Jan. 19, 2022. (Family PhotoRobert Krause via AP)
The community's frantic search for Krause turned up nothing.
A camper gathering firewood outside Flagstaff, Arizona, spotted a body in a forest clearing more than a month later and alerted authorities. It was Krause, laying face down with her hands bound with duct tape. The 27-year-old had been shot in the head.
Authorities used cellphone and financial records and surveillance video to tie Gooch to Krause's disappearance and death. He was stationed at Luke Air Force Base in metropolitan Phoenix, hundreds of miles away from the Farmington church he said he visited in search of the fellowship of Mennonites that he remembered as a child growing up in Wisconsin.
FILE - Mark Gooch awaits opening statements in his trial at the Coconino County Superior Court in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021. Gooch, who was convicted of killing a Mennonite woman after kidnapping her in New Mexico and taking her to Arizona, will be sentenced next month. (Jake BaconArizona Daily Sun via AP, File)
Gooch has been jailed since his arrest in April 2020.
A Luke Air Force Base spokesman said proceedings to discharge Gooch will start after he's sentenced in the Arizona case.
Krause's parents said they won't be at the sentencing hearing but wrote to Coconino County Superior Court Judge Cathleen Brown Nichols to say Sasha Krause was a good sister, conscientious, eager to read at a young age and determined. She had a sense of confidence that her sisters sometimes took as “bossy,” they wrote.
FILE - A photo provided by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office shows Mark Gooch. Gooch, an Air Force airman, was arrested Tuesday, April 21, 2020, in the death of a Mennonite woman Sasha Krause whose body was found off a forest road in northern Arizona. Gooch was found guilty of first-degree murder and will be sentenced Jan. 19, 2022. (Maricopa County Sheriff's Office via AP,File)
They shared pictures of Krause reading to children, with her family and on a snowy outing in Colorado so the judge could see her as more than a victim, Robert Krause told The Associated Press.
Sasha Krause was baptized into the Mennonite church at age 12, learned Spanish and taught school for six years in Grandview. She played a part in raising her younger siblings.
In Farmington, she worked at the publishing ministry called Lamp and Light. She continued writing poetry and learned French. She also was preparing to move into her own trailer.
FILE - This file photo provided by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office shows Mark Gooch. Gooch, who was convicted of killing a Mennonite woman after kidnapping her in New Mexico and taking her to Arizona, will be sentenced in January 2022. (Maricopa County Sheriff's Office via AP)
Her parents said they will never understand why their daughter was kidnapped and murdered but said it had to be part of God's plan.
“God will use her death for His glory, and I am convinced He has eternal purposes for Sasha that we can only guess about, from here,” they wrote.
Gooch did not testify during the trial. He grew up working on his family's dairy farm and went to school through the eighth grade. His father, Jim Gooch, testified that his son left the Mennonite faith and joined the military because he lacked a converted heart.
The Farmington Mennonite Church Community addressed a letter directly to Gooch ahead of the sentencing hearing, although it's unclear if he'll see it. They described his crimes as heinous but wrote that they believe he has some remorse and urged him to repent fully.