Man Gets 35 Years For Girlfriend's Shooting Death Outside Aurora Legion

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 52-year-old Aurora man was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Monday for the November 2015 shooting death of his girlfriend outside a northern Minnesota legion bar.

John Joseph Plevell pleaded guilty back in December to intentional second-degree murder in the shooting death of Julie Ann Hildreth outside the Aurora American Legion club. Plevell got a longer sentence than the guidelines recommended because he ambushed Hildreth and ignored a no-contact order she had against him.

Court documents say Hildreth, 49 of Babbitt, was shot from about 60 feet away as Plevell was waiting outside the club on Nov. 8, 2015. She died at a hospital. The autopsy showed she was shot in the right forearm and the bullet entered her chest.

She worked as a nurse's aide and personal care attendant. Plevell told authorities he dated her for about a year-and-a-half, and the relationship ended three months before the shooting. He initially denied any involvement in her death.