In four minutes, Seth Koch’s freedom was gone.

That’s how long it took Des-chutes County Circuit Court Judge Alta Brady to sentence the 18-year-old on Thursday to life in prison with no possibility of parole for the murder of Barbara Thomas.

”I can’t find sufficient mitigating circumstances to warrant parole,” the judge said. ” … There were so many opportunities for Seth Koch” to change the course of events, Brady told the courtroom.

Koch did not say anything in the courtroom before the judge pronounced the sentence.

Koch’s role in the murder of the 52-year-old Thomas was bludgeoning her with wine bottles and shooting her in the head with a .308-caliber rifle. For this he was sentenced on aggravated murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, assault, kidnapping and robbery charges.

Koch had pleaded guilty to the charges.

All told, he received two life sentences without parole, plus 760 months, which he’ll serve concurrently, Brady said. Koch was one of five Redmond teens who murdered Thomas in her home on March 26, 2001, and then fled in the Redmond woman’s car. The five teens were arrested at the Canadian border.

”It’s such a waste of lives – five families,” said Cathy McDaniel, a friend of Thomas. ”It’s such a ripple effect and the kids didn’t even think of that.”

Before Brady entered the courtroom, Koch’s shackled hands trembled as he sipped a glass of water.

Behind him in the second row of the courtroom seating area, Linda Jones, Thomas’ sister-in-law, and Deborah Palmberg, one of Thomas’ friends, sat holding hands.

It was a brief proceeding before a packed courtroom. Neither Jacques DeKalb, Koch’s defense attorney, nor prosecuting attorneys Kandy Gies and Darryl Nakahira, made any last remarks before the judge.

As Koch and a string of attorneys filed out of the courtroom following the sentencing, Vicki Koch, the defendant’s mother, sat quietly in the last row, her eyes red and swollen with tears.

Palmberg sat unflinchingly for a moment, internalizing what had happened.

”I’m relieved,” she said, resting her head in her hands.

In the second floor courthouse lobby, Linda Jones called her husband, Rod Jones, Barbara Thomas’ brother, on her cell phone to relay news of Koch’s sentence. His reaction was one word.

”Yes,” he said.

”It’s a sad thing,” Linda Jones said. ”(The Kochs) have lost their son, we’ve lost Barbara, my husband has lost his sister.”

Koch’s sentencing concluded one of five chapters in this story. Two of the co-defendants in this case, Lurcretia Karle, 18, and Ashley Summers, 17, have each pleaded guilty and been sentenced to 25 years in prison for their roles in the murder.

Now there are two more defendants to go – Justin Link and Adam Thomas, both 20.

Barbara Thomas’ son, Adam Thomas, pleaded guilty; Link was found guilty by Brady. In pre-trial conferences this week, the dates of Link’s and Adam Thomas’ sentencing hearings were shuffled around.

Jury orientation for Adam Thomas’ sentencing hearing is set for Sept. 2, said Nakahira, senior deputy district attorney.

On Sept. 4, Link’s two-day sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin.

On Sept. 9, jury selection for Adam Thomas’s sentencing will take place; and on Sept. 11, if jury selection has concluded, Adam Thomas’ eight-day sentencing hearing will begin.

Linda Jones said that while she is relieved Koch has been sentenced, she is sorry for Koch’s parents who have lost their son to a state prison.

”I feel their pain because of our pain,” she said.

Lisa Rosetta can be reached at 541-617-7812 or lrosetta@bendbulletin.com.