‘I wish him bad and horrible things for the rest of his life’: Victim impact statements read as Dean gets sentenced to 65 years

MOUNT STERLING — Facing the man found guilty of murdering her daughter was nerve-wracking for Carolyn Woodward.

“I’m not good at being the center of attention,” she said.

Woodward read her victim impact statement before Thursday morning’s sentencing of John Michael Dean, who was found guilty Dec. 16 by a Brown County jury of shooting and killing Rebecca Niewohner, 44, in his Mount Sterling home on June 14, 2019. 

Judge Charles H.W. Burch sentenced Dean to 65 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

“It was heart wrenching to hear the impact that (Niewohner’s death) had on the family, but it’s good closure,” Brown County State’s Attorney Michael Hill said. “For me, the case is done. We have to move on to the next case. But it still was difficult to hear that. I’m sure the family had a hard time with it.”

Woodward spoke for about five minutes in Brown County Circuit Court.

“I lost my daughter. God didn’t take her. It wasn’t her time,” Woodward read from her notes. “She didn’t deserve what happened to her. She would still be here if he hadn’t murdered her in cold blood.

“She was leaving him. (Dean) says he loved her and took care of her. Is that what you do to someone you love? Kill them? And then lie to try to save himself? He is a liar, a coward, a killer, a creep, a bully, scum, a murderer. I wish him bad and horrible things for the rest of his life. I hope he gets what is justified for his crime of murder.

“Today ends this 2-year, 8-month, 3-day journey of going to court for her murder. My pain of losing Becky will never end. All I ever wanted was to be a mother. My family, my kids are my life. Becky won’t ever be coming home. No more smiles. No more phone calls. She is gone forever, but not in my heart or in my memories. She is always with me.”

Woodward opened her statement by painting a picture of her daughter growing up to become a caring mother and educator.

“I angled (the victim impact statement) as a tribute to my daughter, because (defense attorney John Leonard) portrayed her as a loser. druggie nutcase because she was on a depression medicine,” she said. “She was nothing like that. She was a wonderful mother. So I told the court a little about her growing up, being a Girl Scout, going to college, just everything she did.”

Woodward said she was “shaking like crazy” as she read her statement.

“I had put my heart and soul into it,” she said. “I was very happy with what I ended up with. The whole episode is just really heart wrenching to go through.”

Kraig Niewohner, who divorced Becky Niewohner about four years ago, read a victim impact statement written by their 13-year-old daughter, Zoe.

“It just hurt me so bad to listen, because (Zoe) seemed to be doing so good,” Woodward said. “And she was carrying it all in. She wrote about how much she missed her mom and would go in the bathroom to cry, and how kids at school wouldn’t talk to her. We tried to explain to her that adults don’t know how to respond to some things some of the time, and (the kids at school) probably didn’t know what to say or tell her, ‘Oh, I’m sorry you lost your mom.’ 

“It affected her. She was feeling so alone.”

Dean did not react while he listened to both statements.