Caldwell, ID: Former Fallon resident sentenced to 25 years in prison for murder

By Steve Puterski
Lahontan Valley News

Shawn Raecke/Idaho Statesman Former Fallon resident Sheryl Sasenbery, 47, was sentenced by Judge Juneal Kerrick to 25 years in prison for a second degree murder charge last week. Sasenbery pleaded guilty to second degree murder for stabbing her roommate and boyfriend Walter Lisenbee to death in their Caldwell home on June 16, 2009.
A former Fallon woman who killed an ex-Naval Air Station Fallon federal firefighter was sentenced to 25 years in prison last week in Idaho's Third District Court.

According to the Idaho Statesman newspaper in Boise, Sherryl Lynn Sasenbery, 47, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder for the killing of Walter Lisenbee, 66, in Caldwell, Idaho. The two were reported to be involved in a romantic relationship and moved to Idaho to be closer to Lisenbee's family.

Sasenbery is eligible for parole after 10 years.

According to the Statesman, Sasenbery killed Lisenbee on June 18, 2009. She called 911 to report the stabbing and told Caldwell police that Lisenbee attacked her after she accused him of stealing money.

Sasenbery said she protected herself by striking Lisenbee with a paperweight and with a butcher's knife. Sasenbery told investigators that Lisenbee attacked her with a hammer and stabbed her in the stomach, according to Boise, Idaho TV station KBOI.

Sasenbery was taken to the hospital where investigators said the only injury to Sasenbery was a cut on a finger.

Authorities said the self-defense claim was false, stating the likely motive was Sasenbery thought Lisenbee was going to leave her and take $6,500 she received from her mother's estate.

Various media reports state Sasenbery stabbed Lisenbee numerous times in the head, left knee, right shoulder and sliced his throat.

Sasenbery was originally charged with first-degree murder.