James Troutman Pleads Guilty In Skyler Kauffman Murder
By Brad Segall and Todd Quinones
NORRISTOWN (CBS) - Twenty-four-year-old James Troutman of Souderton entered a guilty plea in Montgomery County court to a charge of first-degree murder in the death last spring of nine-year-old Skyler Kauffman.
With jury selection set to begin in this case in about two months, the Montgomery County prosecutor's office offered to take the death penalty off the table, in exchange for a first-degree murder guilty plea, which he entered Monday morning.
He was then sentenced to life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
He also pled guilty to involuntary sexual intercourse along with kidnapping and abuse of a corpse, which added another 10-20 years to that life sentence.
He testified that he lured her to the basement of their garden apartment complex in Souderton, last spring. He sexually assaulted her and then killed her, beat and strangled her and then dumped the body.
Troutman was arrested last May in connection with the murder of the youngster after a detective saw what appeared to be blood on his shoes.
Under questioning by police, Troutman admitted he choked Skyler to death in the basement of an apartment building at Second and Chestnut streets.
