Family finds no justice in killer’s prison sentence

A man who pleaded guilty to killing a disabled woman by stabbing her with kitchen scissors 41 times was sentenced Wednesday to four to 10 years in prison.

The family of 31-year-old Rachel Miklovich had waited five years to see her killer brought to justice but left the courthouse questioning whether justice had been served with the relatively short sentence.

Miklovich's body was found Nov. 5, 2002, in her apartment at 507 N. Lamb Blvd., between Stewart Avenue and Bonanza Road. The attack had been so vicious that her leg had been hacked away from her torso.

Robie Langston, who had lived in the same apartment complex as Miklovich, was arrested in March and charged with murder.

In July, prosecutors dropped the charge to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for a guilty plea from Langston, who has been diagnosed as schizophrenic.

Prosecutor Charles Martinovsky also agreed with and backed the Department of Parole and Probation's recommended sentence of four to 10 years, citing Langston's mental illness and problems with evidence in the case.

Miklovich's survivors pleaded with District Judge Ken Cory not to follow the sentencing recommendation. They asked him to put Langston away for more than 10 years at least. They said Langston should never walk the streets again. The maximum sentence Cory could have given Langston, due to the lesser charge, was 20 years.

"This has ripped us to pieces," said Melody Schuster, Miklovich's mother. "Her sons, as old as they are now, they still don't understand why their mother had to be killed like that ... he was in no danger from her."

Miklovich had suffered three strokes that left her with impaired speech, memory problems and partial paralysis on her right side, her mother said in court Wednesday.

Miklovich had drug problems, her family said, but she was trying to kick her drug habit, with her family's help. According to the police report, she was planning to go to rehab to try to regain custody of her sons, now ages 16 and 11.

"Before she got the chance this man butchered her," Schuster said as she cried.

Miklovich, according to the police report, was friendly and outgoing but also known to trade sex for drugs or money. Authorities found semen from a man other than Langston on her clothing.

"Those factors create the possibility of other suspects if there is a lot of other people coming in and out of the apartment," Martinovsky, the prosecutor, said.

He said the deal was offered because there were problems with the evidence, and Langston's mental disorder would have made it difficult to prove intent and premeditation, which would have been necessary for first- or second-degree murder convictions.

Clark Patrick, Langston's attorney, said Langston has been on several medications for schizophrenia. But he did not believe Langston would meet the definition of insanity required for a not guilty by reason of insanity defense.

"It's kind of hard to say what his grasp on reality is," Patrick said.