DETROIT – A 57-year-old man has been sentenced to 8-15 years in prison in the fatal 1975 beatings and stabbings of two Detroit-area brothers.
David Fowler learned his punishment Friday in Wayne County Circuit Court.
Fowler was extradited from Georgia in February 2012 after DNA tests linked him to the slayings of 34-year-old Michael Belt and 18-year-old Jeffrey Belt. The men were beaten with a board and stabbed during a robbery.
Fowler earlier pleaded no contest to manslaughter. A first-degree murder charge was dismissed. A no contest plea isn't an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing.
Family of the slain brothers asked for the most prison time possible.
Fowler had been in prison under an alias and has previous convictions for shoplifting, receiving stolen property and escape.
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