Bend woman gets six-plus years for smothering grandmother

A 45-year-old Bend woman who admitted smothering her 92-year-old grandmother with a pillow on New Year’s Eve was sentenced Thursday to more than six years in prison under a plea deal she accepted to avoid a murder trial.

Angela Judd, arrested in February in the killing of Nada Bodholdt, was given the mandatory minimum sentence for second-degree manslaughter by Deschutes County Circuit Judge Alta Brady, who rejected defense pleas that she be given a bit more time with her family before heading to prison.

Strong emotions were on display at the sentencing hearing, as prosecutors read letters from family members, expressing shock and grief over her actions, while her daughters were in tears in the courtroom.

“She put a pillow over Nada’s face and laid on top of her,” Deputy District Attorney Matthew Nelson told the court. “Nada struggled and stopped breathing.”

He also read victim impact letters from two of Bodholdt’s nieces.

“We were very close,” one wrote. “It absolutely horrifies me to think about her last months on this Earth. I have spent many a sleepless night thinking what she must have felt in her last moments.

“No one deserves to die like that – no one. And to think, it was at the hands of her own granddaughter.”

Another said: “I just cannot understand how Angie could take her grandmother’s life, after all that Nada did for her. Her action was violent, calculated and intentional.”

Judd told a social worker what she’d done, setting off a chain of events that included her arrest and a legal debate over whether that statement was permissible evidence. Another judge, Barbara Bagley, ruled it was and also decided, in an unusual proceeding – most cases go to grand jury for indictment – to allow the admission in court and impose a murder charge.

Given her turn to speak in court Thursday, Judd did not offer an apology or explanation for her actions, but did say how much her grandmother meant to her.

“I just want to say how much I loved my grandmother with all my heart,” she said.

As she imposed the sentence, Brady talked about the importance of being able to die on your own terms.

“What it came down to is the recognition that a natural death is a miraculous process,” the judge said.

Brady spelled out the terms of the sentence, including 75 months in prison, with credit for time already served in jail. Judd will be eligible for no “good time” credit, or for an early release.

The judge also heard from several character witnesses, including Judd’s wife and daughters. They and defense attorney Jonathan Ash asked her to put off the start of Judd’s prison term for a while, so she could spend more time with her family.

“The past six months have been extremely hard without her,” a daughter said. “I graduated high school without her.

Her other daughter added, “I miss her so much. I just want her home.”

Despite those emotional pleas, Brady refused to postpone the start of Judd’s sentence.