Kevin German will spend life in prison

After more than three years, Imperial’s first murder case in decades came to end Friday afternoon before a small crowd in the Chase County Courtroom.

Kevin German, who grew up in rural Imperial, will spend the rest of his life in prison after District Judge Patrick Heng’s sentencing.

He was sentenced to life in the Nebraska Penitentiary for the November 2019 kidnapping and eventual murder of Annika Swanson, a 21-year-old mother of two from Imperial.

German was also found guilty of false imprisonment of Eve Ambrosek of Imperial.

Judge Heng’s sentence was as follows:

Count 1—Murder in the 2nd Degree (Class 1B Felony), 60 to 80 years.

Count 2—Kidnapping (Class 1A Felony), Life imprisonment.

Count 3—1st Degree False Imprisonment (Class IIIA Felony), 30-36 months. 

German was credited for the 1,176 days already served.

Judge Heng was reflective in his comments before sentencing, saying he took into consideration German’s age, minimal criminal record and numerous letters from family, pastors, cousins and others who wrote of German’s “heart” and being a “great kid.”

He pointed to one letter from a colonel who served in Afghanistan “and he saw evil and saw evil people.”

The colonel wrote German “was not an evil person,” Heng noted, “and I don’t disagree with that at all.”

But, Judge Heng said “horrible, horrible crimes can be committed by people.”

Referring to the Pre-Sentence Investigation and a letter with it from German, the judge noted he saw no acceptance of responsibility on German’s part.

“That’s what the court likes to see—some accountability. I didn’t see any,” he said.

He referred to the different seat he sits in now as a judge versus his years as an attorney.

“Up here, I saw the pain on the Swansons, I saw the pain on your family’s faces as they heard some of the things they had to hear” during the trial, Heng said.

“You have a strong support system in your family, no doubt,” he told German.

Heng noted state’s attorney Doug Warner’s reference to German’s statement in his PSI letter of being a “black kid in a small community” and how German felt the jury did not listen to the evidence in finding him guilty.

“That’s one thing I’ll disagree with you right now on—the jury did listen to you,” Heng said, as German could be looking at two life sentences.

“I can personally tell you that afterwards I went back to see if any of them wanted to talk about it, and, not knowing what to expect, I saw each and every juror back there crying,” Judge Heng said.

“Don’t think they didn’t take this seriously. They gave you every benefit of the doubt as they are supposed to.”

He said German’s PSI letter was similar to that from Keonna Carter, who was with German when Swanson went into the irrigation tube In November 2019, where she died. Each blamed the other for her death.

Heng said for whatever reason, “You two together can be very toxic.”

Like he told Carter in November at her sentencing, there were choices made, and German made the choice to turn around the car that night, after leaving for Colorado. They returned to the Russ Mann residence where Swanson was.

“You drove the car back and you engaged Annika Swanson,” Heng said.

“You were the only one that knew the area,” he said. 

German could have changed his mind, Heng added, during several stops they made before reaching the irrigation tube.

Heng reminded German he and Carter later spent 10 days “going to Orlando and Disney World.”

He said German could have picked up the phone at some point, but neither of them did.

“To be able to go to Disney World with that in the back of your mind shows me that you really didn’t have much regard for Annika,” he continued.

Heng also noted the reference in German’s PSI letter, blaming Carter and saying he was “falsely accused of murder by my ex who killed a woman.”

“You killed the person you knew, Annika Swanson. She wasn’t just a woman, she was someone you knew for a period of time,” Heng said.

“And you left her in a culvert and only you knew where it was,” he said.

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