A 15 to 50 year sentence came down for Jacob Kempainen after relatives spoke about Alvin Kempainen’s death.
HOUGHTON, Mich. — Relatives of Alvin Kempainen addressed a Houghton County judge Monday before the man’s grandson was ordered to serve 15 to 50 years in prison for the 2023 shooting death.
The sentence for Jacob Kempainen came after a hearing centered on family loss, a negotiated plea and the unresolved prosecution of his mother, Margaret Kempainen. The hearing turned a case that began with a December 2023 well-being check into a punishment decision, while leaving another part of the case open in appellate and trial courts.
Houghton County Prosecutor Dan Helmer asked Judge Brittany Bulleit to allow family members to read impact statements before sentencing. Bulleit granted the request, and several relatives spoke about Alvin Kempainen, his place in the family and the harm caused by his killing. Some addressed Jacob Kempainen directly. Most asked for the maximum sentence allowed under the law. Their comments came after more than two years of court proceedings, including an initial open murder charge, a suppressed police statement, a guilty plea to second-degree murder and a postponed sentencing date. Bulleit said the statements mattered to her decision, along with the pre-sentence report and other filings she had reviewed.
Alvin Kempainen was found dead Dec. 19, 2023, inside his home at 53403 Salo Road in Hancock Township. Deputies had gone there that morning after a request for a well-being check. He had suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. The discovery followed a period of worry among family members. Alvin Kempainen had texted his son at about 9 p.m. Dec. 18 to say the family group had arrived at his home. After that message, he stopped responding to calls and texts. His son later told investigators that a debit card transaction in Bruce Crossing made him think the group had gone to Alvin Kempainen’s home to get money, and that fear helped lead to the request for police to check on the 87-year-old.
The search for suspects soon moved beyond the Upper Peninsula. Authorities identified Jacob and Margaret Kempainen as suspects and tracked them as they traveled south from the region. Police in Clear Lake, Iowa, arrested them after officers were told the two were moving through Minnesota toward Iowa. The arrests ended the first phase of the investigation but opened a complicated family case. Margaret Kempainen is Alvin Kempainen’s daughter-in-law. Jacob Kempainen is his grandson. A younger family member was also traveling with them at the time but was not charged as an adult. Prosecutors later said the mother and son had traveled from Wisconsin to Michigan before the killing, then left the state after Alvin Kempainen was shot.
Jacob Kempainen’s sentence followed a December 2025 plea to second-degree murder. He had been charged with open murder, conspiracy to commit open murder and felony firearm. Those other counts were dismissed under the agreement. The deal set a minimum sentence that would not exceed 15 years and required him to cooperate with investigators and testify truthfully against Margaret Kempainen if called. At the April sentencing, Bulleit imposed the 15-year minimum and set the maximum at 50 years. Jacob Kempainen also received credit for 837 days already served. The credit reflects time spent in jail since his arrest, but it does not end the prison term. The final length of his custody will depend on corrections officials and parole decisions after he serves the minimum term.
The plea agreement reflected both the evidence prosecutors had and the evidence they lost. A court suppressed Jacob Kempainen’s statement to police after finding that Iowa officers did not honor his request for Miranda protections before questioning. Helmer said the plea offer was made after long talks with investigators, a review of the evidence and consultation with family members. He described the agreement as a way to secure accountability in Alvin Kempainen’s death while preserving testimony for the remaining case. The result means Jacob Kempainen avoided a trial on open murder, while prosecutors gained a potential witness against Margaret Kempainen. It also means the court record now contains an admission to second-degree murder rather than a jury verdict after trial.
Investigators said statements after the arrests included claims that Alvin Kempainen was possessed or was not really the man the family knew. Jacob Kempainen reportedly said the person at the home was “not grandpa,” while Margaret Kempainen reportedly said Alvin Kempainen moved like a much younger person. Search warrant materials also referred to “evidence of paranormal activity” and to the 2015 movie “The Visit,” because investigators believed the suspects’ accounts resembled parts of the film. Those details drew public attention, but they did not replace the basic charge before the court. Prosecutors treated the death as a shooting homicide, and Jacob Kempainen’s plea admitted criminal responsibility for killing his grandfather.
Margaret Kempainen’s case now carries the remaining legal questions. She remains incarcerated without bond and faces charges tied to Alvin Kempainen’s death. Her defense attorney, Anthony Ruiz, has appealed rulings by Bulleit that denied a motion to suppress statements Margaret Kempainen made to law enforcement and a motion seeking discovery of counseling records involving her daughter, who was a minor at the time. Bulleit had found that Margaret Kempainen received enough notice of her rights when officers read them and later reminded her of them. The defense disagreed and moved the fight to the Michigan Court of Appeals. That filing stopped the January 2026 trial date from moving forward.
For relatives, the court process has stretched across multiple states and multiple hearings. The killing happened in Michigan. The suspects came from Wisconsin. The arrests took place in Iowa after a search that involved information passed across law enforcement agencies. The investigation also reached Minnesota through a search warrant at Jacob Kempainen’s Minneapolis apartment. Each stage brought new filings, hearings and delays. A March sentencing date for Jacob Kempainen was postponed when blizzard conditions closed the courthouse. By the time the hearing happened in April, the case had become both a sentencing matter and a bridge to the next prosecution.
For Alvin Kempainen’s relatives, Monday’s hearing brought the first prison sentence but not the end of the case. Margaret Kempainen’s delayed prosecution remains the next test for the family and the court.
Author note: Last updated May 5, 2026.