Convicted Missouri kidnapper on life support; judge delays sentencing

NEWTON, N.J. – A New Jersey judge has pushed back the sentencing date for a 51-year-old convicted kidnapper because he’s in a coma and on life support.

A Superior Court judge in Newton said Tuesday that Douglas Stangeland of Nevada, Missouri, has been unconscious for almost a month since his transfer from jail to the Morristown Medical Center and is afflicted with some sort of heart or respiratory failure, The New Jersey Herald reports.

Stangeland was taken to the hospital in May after he was convicted on all counts for the 2010 mistaken identity kidnapping of a Newton business owner.

His attorney, the judge and prosecutors have agreed to push his July 17 sentencing date to Aug. 12.

A prosecutor says the date could be pushed back indefinitely if Stangeland stays in a comatose state.

This story was originally published June 3, 2015 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Convicted Missouri kidnapper on life support; judge delays sentencing."