Judge orders 2 life sentences in Topeka double homicide

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 34-year-old man has been sentenced to two life prison terms in the beating and stabbing deaths of a Topeka woman and her cousin.   The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Richard Showalter, of Greenleaf, won’t be eligible for release for at least 112 years and three months under the sentences imposed Friday in Shawnee County District Court. He was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated burglary in the July 2018 home invasion killings of 28-year-old Lisa Sportsman and her 17-year-old cousin, Jesse Polinskey. Sportsman’s estranged husband, Bradley Sportsman, and a third man, Matthew Hutto, also have been convicted in the killings.