Chicago — Attorney General Kwame Raoul today announced an Evansville, Indiana man was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the murder of a Fairfield, Illinois teenager.
Attorney General Raoul’s office prosecuted Brody Murbarger, 27, for the 2014 murder of 15-year-old Megan Nichols. Brody was sentenced today by Wayne County Circuit Judge Michael Molt after a jury found Murbarger guilty of first-degree murder in October 2022.
“When Megan Nichols disappeared in 2014, the lives of her family and friends changed forever. Throughout this case, my office has been committed to obtaining justice for Megan and for her loved ones,” Raoul said. “While nothing will make up for the tremendous loss they have experienced, I hope that this sentence will aid in their healing.”
According to the Attorney General’s office, Murbarger and Nichols were dating during the summer of 2014 when they ran away together. However, Murbarger, who was 18 at the time, returned home alone the next morning. Investigators searching Murbarger’s car in 2017 found traces of Nichols’ blood. Later that year, Nichols’ body was found buried in a shallow grave, and her cause of death was determined to be probable asphyxiation by homicidal violence.
The case was referred to Raoul’s office for prosecution by Wayne County State’s Attorney Kevin Kakac’s office.
Assistant Attorneys General Michael Falagario and Myra Yelle-Clark handled the case for Raoul’s Criminal Prosecutions and Trials Assistance Bureau.
