Three people convicted of the murder of a woman who grew up in Burr Oak get re-sentenced

Rebecca (Schnitzler) Hauser was born in 1962 in La Crosse and grew up in Burr Oak, graduating from North Winneshiek High School in 1980.  When she married Daniel Hauser in 1982 they moved to a farm near Union.

On October 4th, 1994, Hauser was driving on a county road in Marshall County when four 15-year-old boys posed as police officers and pulled her over.  They shot her, brutally beat her and stabbed her more than 30 times.

Jayson Speaks, Burt Smith and Derek Smith were all found guilty of Hauser's death and sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole.

But in 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court banned mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juvenile killers.  An Iowa Supreme Court ruling in May gave the Iowa Board of Parole complete authority in determining whether juvenile killers should be released on parole.

On Monday Speaks, Burt Smith and Derek Smith were back in court for a hearing on their sentence of life in prison without parole.   All three men apologized to the Hauser family, expressing regret for their actions.

"I lost my wife, my best friend, my love," said Rebecca's husband, Dan Hauser,.

Judge James Ellefson, following the Iowa Supreme Court guidelines, re-sentenced the three men to life in prison--with eligibility for parole.  Marshall County prosecutors said they would fight any future request for parole.