Craig Allen Whiting

Craig Allen Whiting was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for the aggravated murder of Nicole Marie Hutchings, who he and another man beat to death and buried in a shallow grave near Sunriver in 2004.

Hutchings’ mother, Robin Hutchings, sobbed through the sentencing and then turned to hug other family members once it was over.

“I’m happy, my daughter can rest in peace now,” she said, before thanking Kandy Gies, the Deschutes County deputy district attorney for the case.

Whiting, 27, and Loren Allen Bowers, 38, both pleaded guilty to the aggravated murder of Nicole Hutchings, of Bend, who was 21 at the time.

Whiting and Bowers, both of Bend, started planning Hutchings’ murder in October 2004, according to previous testimony in their trials, after Hutchings filed a complaint alleging that Bowers had molested a 6-year-old girl.

At a Halloween party on Nov. 1, the two men got Hutchings drunk and drugged her by putting painkillers in a drink. Whiting drove to a site near Sunriver, where both men beat her with a short, metal-tipped club. They then buried her in a 3-foot-deep grave that they had dug beforehand. The case went cold for years before officials found her body in March 2007.

Bowers was sentenced to life in prison for Hutchings’ murder in December.

Nothing about the crime or Whiting’s history suggested that he should be eligible for parole, Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Alta Brady said during the sentencing. Whiting had plenty of opportunities to stop the murder, but didn’t, she said.

“It was premeditated in the true sense of the word,” Brady said. “It was cold-blooded.”

And Whiting would still be a danger to others if he was released from prison in the future, she said.

“The defendant is dysfunctionally susceptible to the influence of others,” she said.

After the sentencing, Hutchings’ family gathered outside of the courtroom, and said they were glad the sentencings were over and that Bowers and Whiting would not leave prison.

“It’s been hard, we’ve been going through a lot,” Robin Hutchings said.

The family had already lost Nicole, and the thought that Whiting might be released on parole and would be able to hurt others was a weight, said Cathy Schaumburg, the victim’s grandmother.

“He lived 2½ years after she disappeared free, and I didn’t want him to be free ever again,” she said.

Whiting got what he deserved, said Amanda Hutchings, 21, Nicole Hutchings’ sister.

“We’re just so glad they’re in jail forever,” she said. “They’re not getting out.”

For the years between when Nicole Hutchings was murdered and when her body was found in March 2007, the family thought about her constantly, Amanda Hutchings said, hoping every knock on the door was her.

The family can start their lives again now, she said, adding that she had turned down a full college scholarship before — but now perhaps she would go back to school.

Because of the nature of the crime, the prosecution had asked for a true life sentence, without the opportunity for parole or participation in programs outside of prison, Gies said after the sentencing.

“This defendant had a lot to do with the planning of the murder,” Gies said. “He struck the first blow, and he had a lot of opportunities to stop the murder from happening and chose not to.”

The motive behind the murder was also a factor in asking for the true life sentence, Gies said.

“Basically, Nicole Hutchings got murdered for doing the right thing,” Gies said.