A young man who was involved in a triple murder in Clark isn’t getting out of the life-long prison sentence he agreed to last year.

In a succinct Tuesday decision, District Court Judge Steven Cranfill denied a request to give Stephen Hammer, 20, the chance to one day become eligible for parole. As a result, Hammer still has no opportunity at ever being paroled.

Cranfill noted the sentence was the result of a deal with prosecutors on one count of first-degree murder and two counts of aiding and abetting that offense.

“The court believes the sentence Mr. Hammer has received is reasonable under the circumstances and therefore will not be modified or reduced,” Cranfill wrote, reciting language he commonly uses in denying requests for reductions.

In asking for a later opportunity for parole, Hammer said he’s haunted by what he did, but “one action does not define who I am or who I’m going to be.” Several of Hammer’s family members, friends and a couple pastors had also written letters of support.

Park County Attorney Bryan Skoric, who prosecuted the case, had vehemently objected to Hammer’s request for a reduced sentence “both on the grounds that the plea agreement prohibits it, and that the defendant is wholly undeserving for any modification or reduction based on the horrific nature of his crimes.”

In March 2013, Hammer fatally shot 70-year-old Hildegard Volygesi while co-defendant, Tanner Vanpelt, also shot Hildegard and gunned down her 69-year-old husband, Janos, and their 40-year-old daughter, Ildiko Freitas. Hammer knew them as family friends, and the two young men reportedly had gone to the family’s remote Clark home looking to take Freitas’ vehicle. Hammer and Vanpelt were armed with guns they’d stolen from a Cody pawn store and reportedly wanted to flee the area because they feared police were about to collar them for the stolen guns.

In deals with prosecutors, Vanpelt accepted three consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, and Hammer agreed to one term of life in prison without the possibility of parole plus two terms of life pursuant to law.

Part of each man’s signed plea agreement included a provision saying he “waives his right to move to modify or reduce his sentence.”

But in an Aug. 29 filing, Hammer did ask Cranfill to effectively reduce his sentence to one term of life pursuant to law. That would have enabled Hammer to become eligible for parole if a future governor commuted his life sentence to a shorter term. The only way Hammer can be released now is if a governor unconditionally pardons him, Skoric has said.

In support of the request, Hammer’s family members said he’d been under the influence of methamphetamine, hadn’t slept in days and had been led astray by Vanpelt, 20. They said Hammer doesn’t deserve to die in prison.

“He never intended to hurt anyone,” wrote Hammer’s mother, Carmen Hammer of Powell. “He is a good person who made profound mistakes and was seriously influenced by the co-defendant, Tanner.”

Skoric, however, said in a Sept. 12 filing that he “cannot imagine a defendant less deserving of a sentence modification than defendant Hammer.”

He also blasted arguments made by Hammer’s court-appointed attorney, David Serelson, that referenced Hammer’s youth and the fact that his brain was still developing. After referencing a U.S. Supreme Court opinion that describes juveniles as having lesser culpability and greater capacity for change, Serelson said, “a civilized and compassionate society should not close the door on the possibility of rehabilitating a 19-year-old.”

Skoric called the arguments related to age “disingenuous and legally irrelevant,” noting that society treats people as adults when they turn 18.

“There is no gray area between childhood and adulthood that would excuse his crimes. Defendant Hammer was 19 years old when he engaged in the most horrific criminal conduct, culminating in the murder of three innocent persons,” Skoric wrote.

Family of the Volgyesis and Freitas also weighed in on Hammer’s request in comments posted to the Tribune’s website.

“What we don’t get to hear is momma, papi and Ildiko saying that they have been dead for almost two years and they want to not be dead,” wrote John Freitas, Ildiko’s husband and Janos and Hildegard’s son-in-law. “We can’t hear them because this thing that might have been a good kid ... he shot and killed them. There is no taking something like that back.”

Stephen Hammer