A Sioux Falls man, who admits to stabbing his wife to death, will find out next week whether he'll spend the rest of his life in prison. A sentencing hearing got underway Thursday for Irving Jumping Eagle, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in last April's death of Alicia Jumping Eagle.
Prosecutors are seeking a life prison sentence for Irving Jumping Eagle. A police detective testified that Jumping Eagle cut through a window screen to get into Alicia Jumping Eagle's Sioux Falls apartment last year. Investigators found her body lying in the master bedroom with 25 stab wounds, 19 to her chest. Investigators found the weapon, a six-inch folding pocket knife in the bathroom toilet. Investigators believe Irving Jumping Eagle stabbed her near the bathroom and moved her into the bedroom.
But the defense attorney said Irving Jumping Eagle told a nurse shortly after he was arrested that Alicia Jumping Eagle stabbed him.
A forensic consultant called by the defense said blood evidence at the scene showed that Alicia Jumping Eagle's body was not moved. A claim disputed by prosecutors.
Her sister, Katie Lovstad read a statement to the judge saying "I want to know what her last moments were like. I was supposed to protect her." Lovstad spoke exclusively to KELOLAND News last April, just days after Alicia Jumping Eagle was killed.
"She was a very big part of my life, a very big part of my life and it's going to be hard to go on without her," Lovstad said on April 7, 2017.
Deuel County authorities arrested Irving Jumping Eagle three days after the stabbing when he crashed Alicia's car on Interstate 29.
