NEOSHO, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man has been sentenced to life in prison in the killing of an 82-year-old man over the objections of the victim’s son.

Clay Karch says he believes 46-year-old Shannon Hensley is innocent in the 2016 death of his father, Nolan Karch, in Aurora. Clay Karch says it doesn’t serve his father or the community to “send the wrong man to prison.”

Police found items stolen from Karch in Hensley’s camper when they arrested him in January 2017. Hensley says he didn’t have anything to do with the stolen items and blamed the killing on a co-defendant.

Circuit Judge Tim Perigo said he wouldn’t sentence Hensley for first-degree murder, robbery and other charges if he “thought for a second the defendant was innocent.”