A man has been sentenced to prison in connection to the brutal rape and murder of an 82-year-old Rapid City woman. The Pennington County State’s Attorney’s Office reports that 48-year-old James Jumping Eagle received the maximum punishment for the murder of 82-year-old Reta McGovern.

Eagle was sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment for first-degree murder and a 50-year-old term for second-degree rape. The sentences will be served consecutively. Authorities say Eagle had raped two other women in the past. On February 10, 2021, James Jumping Eagle brutally raped and murdered Reta McGovern in her own home.

Video evidence showed that Eagle attempted to conceal evidence of his crime. In March, a jury convicted Jumping Eagle of rape and murder.