A Minot woman convicted of killing her ex-boyfriend during a bitter custody dispute was sentenced to serve life without parole at a sentencing hearing that lasted more than two hours Friday in North Central District Court in Minot.

Heather Renee Faith Hoffman, 27, Minot Air Force Base, was found guilty of the April 2022 Class AA felony murder of Alexander Eckert after three days of testimony and two and half hours of deliberation by a Ward County jury in September of last year. Her attorney, Steven Mottinger, indicated at the hearing that Hoffman plans to appeal.

The jury ultimately found the weight of evidence against Hoffman had not been overcome by her defense’s alternative theory behind Eckert’s death. That evidence was substantiated by an eye witness who had aided Hoffman in covertly passing through Minot AFB checkpoints the night of the murder. State prosecutors offered a litany of actions by Hoffman leading up to the murder, including the straw purchase of a firearm at a Minot gun show, the use of a family safety location app, and the creation of a bogus work order to obfuscate her movements that fateful evening.

The sentencing was briefly delayed as the court addressed a missing exhibit from the trial. The court received 33 letters in support of Hoffman and a victim impact statement provided by Eckert’s family.

Eckert’s father spoke at length in emotional testimony at Friday’s hearing. Eckert’s mother also spoke in defense of their son’s character and love for his daughter as well their agonizing sense of grief. Hoffman’s mother, as well as Hoffman, spoke to reiterate arguments made at trial that Eckert had been abusive. Hoffman attacked the characters and testimony of several witnesses who had testified against her in claiming her innocence of the crime.

Judge Gary Lee countered Hoffman’s remarks with facts produced at trial, saying the harshest penalty is appropriate for a murder that was evil, cold-blooded and pre-planned.

“This was a cold-blooded execution of Alexander Eckert, and Heather Hoffman did it and she did it in order to eliminate Alexander from his child’s life,” he said. “Her character and attitude reveal a cold, calculated individual willing to take an illegal action to get her own way.”

Mottinger had requested a 50-year sentence, to serve 35 years before becoming eligible for parole, citing Hoffman’s lack of a criminal history. Lee said the lack of prior criminal history is not relevant in a crime of the magnitude of which Hoffman was convicted.

Lee also ordered that Hoffman have no contact with her minor child directly or indirectly for the duration of her life.