SOUTH BEND – A man accused of participating in the torture deaths of three people has been sentenced to just under 15 years in prison.

David Knotek of Raymond was sentenced Thursday to 179 months. He earlier pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of his step-nephew, Shane Watson, as well as unlawful disposal of human remains and rendering criminal assistance.

Knotek and his wife, Michelle Knotek, were accused in the deaths of Watson and Kathy Loreno and Ronald Woodworth, who once boarded at their home in rural Pacific County.

Michelle Knotek – known to some as “Crazy Shellie” – was sentenced last week in Pacific County Superior Court to more than 22 years in prison. She had entered an Alford plea, acknowledging a jury would most likely have convicted her of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the deaths of Kathy Loreno and Ronald Woodworth.

The couple was arrested Aug. 8, 2003 at their Monohon Landing Road residence and jailed after a number of local witnesses began coming to sheriff’s deputies with information about the physical and mental abuse of two men and a woman who had lived with the Knoteks.

Witnesses told deputies of physical and emotional abuse of at least three people. Details emerged of how the bodies had been burned or buried.

Loreno was reported missing by her mother, Kay Thomas, in 1994. But Michelle Knotek initially told Pacific County deputies Loreno had moved to California with a boyfriend.

-Associated Press contributed to this report