Chamorro will spend life in prison for family's murders

LEBANON, Ind. (WISH) - Barney Chamorro, who pleaded guilty in January to killing his twin brother, his father and his stepmother, was sentenced Thursday to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

The plea agreement the Whitestown man made took the death penalty off the table.

His family members, his twin brother Alex Chamorro Jr., his father Alejandro, and his father’s wife, Judy Schindler, were found brutally stabbed to death on Feb. 26, 2010. Barney Chamorro was arrested the next day in Texas. He was 19 at the time.

The judge’s sentencing ruling came after a two-day hearing in which the defense team emphasized various mitigating factors, including a troubled childhood, according to 24-Hour News 8 news partner The Lebanon Reporter . The prosecution maintained that the brutality of the murders and the multiple victims outweighed any other factors, the newspaper reported.

“If the defendant is capable of murdering his father, twin brother and stepmother, he’s capable of doing anything,” Prosecuting Attorney Todd Meyer said in his closing remarks, according to a news release.