FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Contact: Tony Mangan, Communications Director, 605-773-6878 

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces a Yankton man has been sentenced to Life in Prison after pleading guilty but mentally ill to Second Degree Murder in connection with the 2025 murder of a Yankton woman.

Craig Allen Nichols, Jr., 33, on Tuesday entered his guilty plea and then was sentenced in Yankton County Circuit Court.  He was charged in the January 2, 2025 murder of Heather Ann Bodden, 41, in a Yankton apartment.

“We offer our condolences to Heather’s family and friends,” said Attorney General Jackley. “Due to the work of the investigators and prosecutors, this horrific crime was prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Attorney General Jackley said in accepting the plea, the Court considered evidence from a qualified evaluator indicating that, at the time of the offense, the defendant was suffering from a mental illness that affected his behavior and impacted his judgment, but not to the extent that he was unable to understand the wrongfulness of his actions.  As such, the defendant was not legally insane at the time of the offense.  A plea of guilty but mentally ill does not alter the statutory penalty for Second Degree Murder and still results in the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment that was imposed.      

South Dakota’s Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), in conjunction with the Yankton Police Department and the Yankton County Sheriff’s Office, investigated the case.

The Attorney General’s Office and the Yankton County State’s Attorney prosecuted.

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