Nebraska Supreme Court affirms conviction of Lincoln man who killed his father

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of a Lincoln man who killed his father on Friday.

On June 12, 2024, a jury convicted 42-year-old Joseph Kruger on one count of first-degree murder and one count of use of a weapon to commit a felony.

Lancaster County Judge Darla Ideus sentenced Kruger to life in prison for killing 59-year-old Mark Kruger.

He was also sentenced to four to eight years on one count of use of a weapon to commit a felony with credit for 435 days served. His sentence was ordered to begin on July 26, 2024.

Court documents show Kruger appealed his first-degree murder and deadly weapon convictions on four grounds:

The trial court’s exclusion of self-defense evidence

The judge’s refusal to instruct the jury on unintentional manslaughte