Spirit Lake Suspect Once Inquired About “Punishment”

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A man accused of killing two children on the Spirit Lake Reservation once asked investigators what the maximum sentence was for the crime.

Jurors in the murder trial of Valentino "Tino" Bagola on Thursday saw a videotape of a jailhouse meeting between Bagola and two FBI agents two days before he was indicted in the May 2011 deaths of 9-year-old Destiny Shaw-DuBois and her 6-year-old brother, Travis DuBois Jr.

The Forum reports (http://bit.ly/14RkNpK) that at one point, Bagola asked the agents, "What's the most you could get for it?" When one of the agents told him he could get life in prison, Bagola asked if a lighter sentence could result from a plea bargain.

Authorities allege Bagola confessed to killing the children. His defense maintains the children's father confessed.