Michael Plumadore, Ind. man, gets life sentence for dismembering 9-year-old girl

(CBS/AP) FORT WAYNE, Ind. - A judge sentenced 39-year-old Michael Plumadore to life in prison on Monday for bludgeoning to death and dismembering a 9-year-old girl he was babysitting at a Fort Wayne trailer park days before Christmas.

Plumadore pleaded guilty last month to murder, abuse of a corpse and removing a dead body from the scene in Aliahna Maroney-Lemmon's death. Prosecutors initially called for the death penalty, but agreed to the life sentence without possibility of parole in exchange for the guilty plea.

Plumadore was allegedly looking after Aliahna and her 6-year-old sisters on Dec. 22 at his mobile home while their mother was sick. Plumadore and Aliahna's family lived in the same trailer park in Fort Wayne, and Aliahna's relatives described him as a trusted family friend who helped care for the girl's dying grandfather.

Police said they found the girl's head, hands and feet in the freezer at the mobile home where Plumadore lived with Aliahna's grandfather, who died about three weeks earlier. The other remains were thrown into trash bags and discarded at a gas station.

The other girls weren't harmed.

During last month's hearing, Plumadore told the judge he killed Aliahna by repeatedly striking her in the head with a brick. He then cut her up with a hacksaw.

"I put parts in my freezer and took the rest down to the Marathon station and put them in a dumpster," he said.

Plumadore is a habitual offender and has criminal records in Florida and North Carolina including convictions for trespassing, assault and an Indiana conviction for forgery.

Complete coverage of the Aliahna Lemmon murder on Crimesider