Anchorage Man Pleads Guilty in 2009 Stomping Death

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Anchorage man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for his role in the stomping death of a man at an East Anchorage park in 2009.

Lawrence Lobdell, 21, entered the plea Friday in Anchorage Superior Court. Under the plea agreement, Lobdell will not serve more than 40 years in prison for the July 2009 death of James Lockery, versus the 10 to 99 years a second-degree murder conviction usually carries.

Officials with the Alaska Department of Law’s Office of Special Prosecutions say Lobdell and Marc Ewing were both 18 when they attacked and robbed Lockery of beer and pocket change at Centennial Park on July 12, 2009, then returned to kill him. Ewing admitted that he had jumped off the bleachers and repeatedly stomped Lockery, who died of blunt-force trauma to the head and abdomen.

Superior Court Judge Michael Spaan, who sentenced Ewing in November 2010 to serve 70 years with 20 years suspended, will sentence Lobdell at a June 1 hearing.