A horrific murder case has finally ended with a fitting, yet sorrowful, verdict. Antonio Barbeau, who is just 14 years old, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the grisly murder of his great grandmother, Barbara Olson, last September.

"In my 24 years on the bench, I've not seen anything of this nature. Not even close," Circuit Court Judge Timothy Van Akkeren said. "It gives me great sadness to see someone of your age going into the system...I'm sorry to see this have to happen."

Barbeau, who was 13 and the time of the murder, had attempted to rob his great grandmother with the help of his friend Nathan Paape, 14. Barbeau had just escaped from a juvenile detention center and was staying with Paape when the two cooked up a scheme to rob Olson.

The two boys are believed to have entered Olson's garage through an unlocked side door. It was there that Olson found the two boys and invited them into the house. Both Barbeau and Paape admitted that mere moments later they attacked her with a hammer and a hatchet. An autopsy performed on the corpse found that she was struck no less than 27 times.

"I feel bad for the family. I know they love him. But this type of crime cannot go unanswered and be explained away by brain trauma," district attorney Joe DeCecco said. "The kid's life is gone. He has to wait until he's 50. He won't be anything like he is today. But that's the way it is."

After the boys killed Olson, they made off with her jewelry and cash. They tried to cover up the murder, but soon found it to be too difficult. Later they would leave her car unlocked in a local bowling alley's parking lot, with much of the jewelry still inside, in hopes that it would be stolen and the thief implicated in the murder. They then shared a pizza and counted the money stolen, which turned out to be a mere $150.

Barbeau was facing a minimum of 20 years in prison with the possibility of parole. Because he is a juvenile offender, he is not eligible for life in prison without the possibility of parole. His accomplice Paape is to be sentenced on Tuesday, and it is likely that he will receive a similar sentence despite his claims that he did not premeditate the murder like Barbeau had.

Barbeau's family appeared to be split with their opinion on the ruling. While at least one family member is quoted as saying that it was a good sentencing, not all of them believed that the court should have been so hard on Barbeau by sentencing him to an additional 16 years in jail.

"My mom was not a vindictive person. She would want (Barbeau) to have a chance to be a better person, to have hope, to have something to work towards," grandmother Judy Offut told the Sheboygan Press.