“Here, Lee Clay did nothing. He was up here looking for work and met the wrong person at the wrong time,” Suhr said.

Suhr said Bridges would not respond well to rehabilitation and pointed out a psychologist’s opinion in an evaluation that he was psychopathic and dangerous.

“This is quite simply somebody who needs to be locked up for the rest of his life,” Suhr said.

Bridges told Feland he had no statements to make regarding sentencing. At an earlier hearing, he had conceded he would be locked up for life.

Feland questioned Bridges about several statements he made to law enforcement, in court documents and to the psychologist evaluating him. The judge seemed to be trying to understand Bridges’ way of thinking, but time and again, Feland ended the questioning shaking her head and looking off into the distance of the Burleigh County courtroom.

Feland specifically questioned Bridges about saying people were animals, that he had intended to infect and cause the slow death of Clay in the beginning, and about Bridges’ disappointment in himself for leaving a hatchet in the back of the van, allowing Clay to fight him. In each question, Bridges nodded and did not back away from his previous comments.

Bridges was convicted in adult court in Illinois as a juvenile of voluntary manslaughter, along with other charges related to a shooting. He later was convicted of aggravated battery on multiple occasions. His father once told police Bridges had told him he wanted to kill someone just to see what it felt like.

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