Court Sentences Man Convicted of Murder at Fonner Park
Description:
A man convicted on a second-degree murder charge in the 2023 killing of a horseman at Fonner Park has been sentenced to more than eight decades in prison.
A number of Nebraska news outlets reported July 30 that Logan Hunts Horse had been sentenced to 88-134 years in prison for the March 2023 killing of Todd Scherer, a 62-year-old horseman based at Fonner.
News Channel Nebraska reported that Hall County (Neb.) District Court Judge Patrick Lee handed down the sentence for Hunts Horse Tuesday morning. Lee sentenced Hunts Horse to 64-94 years for his second-degree murder conviction and 24-40 years for a weapons violation. The terms will be served consecutively.
That outlet also reported two other men involved in crimes related to Scherer's killing will be sentenced at a later date. News Channel Nebraska reports that a different judge granted 18-year-old Austin Kelly's request to continue his sentencing hearing. It originally was set for Tuesday afternoon but was moved to Aug. 14. He faces a minimum sentence of one year in prison and maximum sentence of 50 years. Co-defendant Lane Harris will be sentenced the same day. He pleaded guilty to aiding consumption of a felony and faces a maximum of two years in prison.
In March 2023 BloodHorse reported that Scherer had just arrived to Grand Island that day and had not even begun his first morning of work at the track. He would have worked as a groom or an assistant trainer, but for whom it had not been determined. Scherer, a native of Lincoln, Neb., was a head trainer for 13 years until 1994, training 60 Thoroughbred winners for earnings of $259,040. He also trained a Quarter Horse winner.