WICHITA, Kan. — A homeless man has been sentenced to life plus 195 months in prison for killing a 72-year-old Wichita woman who had sometimes provided him with food and a place to stay.
Television station KAKE reports that 57-year-old John Darwin Pepper was sentenced last week after being convicted in November of first-degree murder and criminal sodomy for the July 2019 death of Rita Golden. Prosecutors say Pepper killed Golden during the course of sexually assaulting her. Police have said Golden let Pepper stay in her backyard and sometimes let him take naps and eat insider her home.
An autopsy determined Golden died from a heart condition but she also had injuries associated with being smothered and sexually assaulted.
