Samuel Steven Huggler was sentenced to 120 years in prison on Wednesday in Vanderburgh Circuit Court for orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot that left his 18-year-old sister dead and two of his brothers seriously injured.
In August, a jury found Huggler, 30, a former Rockport resident, guilty of aiding, inducing or causing murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and two counts of aiding, inducing or causing attempted murder. Prosecutors had asked for life without parole, which the jury did not recommend. Huggler told the judge after sentencing that he wishes to appeal, and officials say he must register as a violent offender, with no-contact orders covering his siblings and parents.
The case began on Dec. 14, 2021, when three Huggler siblings were unloading groceries in the garage of a home in the 800 block of Kirkwood Drive on Evansville's East Side. According to the probable cause affidavit, a masked gunman walked in and opened fire, fatally wounding Olivia Huggler and seriously injuring two others. Investigators say Daniel Alvey, then 18, told police Huggler had agreed to pay him $5,000 to kill one of his brothers.
Charges against Huggler were first dismissed, then refiled. He left the country for Andorra, which has no extradition treaty with the United States, and was arrested after crossing into Spain and brought back to the U.S. in 2025.
Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers said family members testified at sentencing asking for the maximum, and she hopes the sentence brings the family some finality, while acknowledging that justice cannot undo what happened.
