Man Convicted in Cavalier Intern's Death Gets More Jail Time

A suburban Philadelphia man serving a life

term for the strangulation death of a company intern from North

Dakota has been sentenced to an additional nine to 24 months for

possession of child pornography on his computer when he was

arrested.

Forty-four-year-old William Smithson of Thornbury Township

pleaded no contest to the charge in June. His attorney said other

people had access to the computer, but his client entered the plea

to conclude the case.

Smithson participated in the hearing by videoconferencing from

state prison in Huntingdon, where he is serving life in the death

of 23-year-old Jason Shephard of Cavalier, N.D.

Shephard was studying sports marketing and took a semester off

from Northern State University to work at Daktronics, a scoreboard

manufacturer. His decomposing body was found at the home of

Smithson, a Daktronics supervisor, in September 2006. Smithson is

appealing his murder conviction.

Tags: william smithson, cavalier