Judge: 'Death would be too good' for Port Huron man convicted of murder
A St. Clair County Circuit judge said death would be too good a sentence for a man convicted of murdering a Port Huron woman in what has been described as a drug deal gone bad.
"Some people ( . . . ) feel that you should pay the same price as the victim did," judge Cynthia Lane said before Robert Tonchen's sentencing Tuesday. "My feelings are a bit different sir, because frankly I think death would be too good for you. You truly deserve to spend the rest of your life in prison."
Tonchen was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of Stephanie Thompson, 33, who was killed on New Year's Day 2022 in Port Huron.
Thompson's sister, Jessica Rusch, said her sister was the youngest of three girls. She was intelligent, and graduated high school at the top of her class with honors. She also loved to read, swim, bring animals home and help people.
Thompson started nursing school, but strayed from that path when she feel into substance abuse, her sister said. Along the way, she had two sons, whom she loved more than anything in this world.
"She had a history with addiction and that lifestyle. None of that matters. She was still a human being," Rusch said. "She has been on the upswing and has fallen. She has had children along the way. Through all of that struggle she was still the same kind-hearted, smart, stubborn, feisty, loving person we all knew, who would try to help someone in need if she could, had your back in a second if needed."
St. Clair County Senior Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Sparling has said Tonchen killed Thompson when he was traveling with her in her Grand Marquis in Port Huron sometime between 4:07 and 4:28 a.m. He set up the meeting under the premise of a drug deal.
Thompson was stabbed more than 12 times, with a final fatal wound to her neck. Sparling has said Tonchen was attempting to rob Thompson of drugs or money to fuel his substance use disorder.
Rusch called Tonchen a monster who caused unimaginable pain in her family.
"How Robert could do what he did and sit in this courtroom and not show an ounce of remorse, yet laugh over jail calls that were played just show what a cold-blooded monster he is, all over an addiction he couldn't afford," Rusch said.
Sparling outlined Tonchen's extensive criminal history and ensuing prison sentences, which stretches back to 1991 and includes multiple convictions for breaking and entering, burglary, larceny, home invasion and parole violations.
"“He stole a sister away from a family, he stole a mother away from her children, and he stole a daughter away from her father," Sparling said. "The only thing he has brought to our community in St. Clair County is violence and death.”
Tonchen maintained his innocence and said Thompson was his friend that he cared for. He told the family he was sorry for their loss and said he would continue to fight his conviction.
"I’ll always maintain my innocence. I didn’t do it," Tonchen said. "I’m sorry.”
Lane and Rusch said while Thompson was not perfect, she did not deserve to die in such a horrific way. Lane reminded Tonchen a jury found him guilty of murdering Thompson and burning her body in an attempt to hide the evidence.
"(Thompson) did not deserve what she got from you. She did not deserve to have her throat slashed from ear to ear. She did not deserve to have her body burned as you burned it afterwards," Lane said, addressing Tonchen. "She did not deserve to die the way she did and she did so at your hands.”
Tonchen was found guilty by a jury in July of first-degree premeditated murder, tampering with evidence and fourth-degree arson.
Thompson was found dead in a parked vehicle with obvious trauma to her body in the 2700 block of Vanness Street at about 5:45 a.m. Jan. 1, the Port Huron Police Department has said.
Contact Laura Fitzgerald at (810) 941-7072 or lfitzgeral@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Man to spend life in prison for brutal murder of Port Huron woman
