Who is Austin Widhalm? Nebraska man gets at least a decade in prison for branding 'thief' on victim's skin with blowtorch
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA: Austin Widhalm, a Nebraska man was brought to justice for kidnapping and torturing his victim.
Lancaster County District Judge Susan I Strong on Thursday, September 14, ordered Austin Widhalm to serve a sentence of 16 to 22 years in a state correctional facility after he attacked the victim over ‘stolen drugs.’
As per a Law and Crime report, Widhalm pleaded no contest last month to one count of second-degree assault and one count of first-degree false imprisonment.
What are the charges against Austin Widhalm?
Judge Strong sentenced Widhalm to 14 to 19 years on the assault charge and two to three years on the false imprisonment charge. Both the sentences are to be served consecutively, said the judge.
The other accused in this case, Tanner Danielson, pleaded no contest in June to one count of attempted kidnapping and one count of first-degree sexual assault.
Strong sentenced Danielson to 40 to 50 years on the first count and 30 to 40 years on the second count with the two sentences running one after the other.
“Frankly, had he not done so, I doubt that, at least on that night, these events would have gone down as they did,” Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Jeff Mathers said.
What did the judge say while handing the sentence?
Judge Strong also expressed his disgust towards Widhalm from the bench before announcing the sentence.
“There’s no doubt you did have a substantial role in the event," he said.
"On Friday, July 29, at approximately 8:30 am, the Lincoln Police Department was contacted by investigators from the Gage County Sheriff's Office regarding a man who was found bound and walking down a rural road with obvious injuries," police said in a statement.
“The man reported Danielson and Widhalm took him to an area he was unfamiliar with and tied him to a tree while still bound,” police wrote in a press release.
“He was eventually able to free himself and left the area walking until finding a Gage County Sheriff’s deputy. He was taken to a local hospital where he was treated for his injuries,” the statement added.
The victim had two black eyes and was taken to Beatrice Hospital for treatment.
The 26-year-old victim had severe burn marks on his face, arms, and legs. He told police he had been “beaten, burned with a blowtorch, and branded,” with the latter referring to Danielson, a former welder, burning the word “thief” onto his skin. He also said the men force-fed him acid.
Widhalm allegedly refused to help the victim after Danielson left the scene.
Moreover, he helped his partner do meth and 'actively prevented the victim' from leaving the scene as the two tied him to a tree.
