A Vanderburgh County judge sentenced Samuel Huggler to 120 years in the Evansville murder-for-hire shooting.

WEHT says a judge imposed 120 years and that Huggler plans to appeal. 14 News says the same total, then writes that the jury came back with a sentence Wednesday afternoon. That station reported on Aug. 28 that the jury had recommended a range of 45 to 185 years and that the judge would decide on Oct. 21. The Wednesday stories also do not describe the no-contact order the same way, and neither one names the judge.

WEHT reported Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, that a Vanderburgh County judge sentenced Samuel Huggler to 120 years in prison in a murder-for-hire case. 14 News reported the same day that officials said he was sentenced to a total of 120 years, that he must register as a violent offender, and that there are no-contact orders for his siblings and parents. WEHT reported that, as part of the sentence, he cannot contact family for any means, and that he plans to appeal. 14 News reported that after the sentencing he told the judge he wishes to appeal. Neither Wednesday story names the judge. A sentence is the term the court imposed. An appeal, which both outlets say he wants, is a later case.

The 120-year total and the count-by-count numbers in the 14 News story are not the same arithmetic. 14 News reported he was sentenced to 60 years on count one, 20 years on count five, and 35 years on count six in the Indiana Department of Correction. Sixty, 20, and 35 add up to 115, not 120. The same story says that in August 2026 the jury found him guilty of three counts of aiding and inducing and one count of conspiracy to commit murder, and then says that after deliberating, the jury came back with a sentence Wednesday afternoon. 14 News reported on Aug. 28 that the jury recommended a sentence ranging from 45 to 185 years, that the judge would decide the term, and that the parties had agreed to sentencing at 10 a.m. on Oct. 21. WEHT's Wednesday account says a judge sentenced him to 120 years. It does not say a jury pronounced the term that day. The line in Wednesday's 14 News story that the jury sentenced him is not what that station reported in August, and it is not what WEHT reported Wednesday.

What 14 News has said he was convicted of is also not one list. On Aug. 27, 14 News reported the jury found him guilty on count one of aiding or inducing a murder and on counts four through six of aiding or inducing an attempted murder, and not guilty on counts two and three of conspiracy to commit murder. On Aug. 28, the same station reported he was guilty of three counts of aiding, inducing, and causing an offense such as murder and attempted murder, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. Wednesday's 14 News story repeats that later formulation: three counts of aiding and inducing and one count of conspiracy. A not-guilty finding on two conspiracy counts, reported Aug. 27, is not the same verdict as one conspiracy conviction, reported Aug. 28 and again Wednesday. WEHT's Wednesday story says he was found guilty of the murder of his sister and that during trial it was found he was the mastermind of the plot. That is the station's summary. It does not list counts.

14 News reported the case was a scheme with Daniel Alvey that led to the death of Huggler's sister, 18-year-old Olivia Huggler, and to severe injuries to his brothers, Jonathan and Joseph Huggler. WEHT reported Alvey was charged as the triggerman and told the court he was hired by Huggler to commit the murder, that Huggler had a bad relationship with one of his brothers, and that he was instructed not only to kill that brother but any other witnesses. What Alvey told the court is the account WEHT reported. It is not a new finding on Wednesday's sentence. 14 News reported on May 5, 2023, that Alvey pleaded guilty to murder and two counts of attempted murder and received 45 years, and that the prosecutor's office said the plea was based on his cooperation and testimony in another case. That 45-year term is his judgment. It is not Wednesday's term.

How Huggler got back in front of a jury is told in two short versions. WEHT reported charges against him were initially dropped in 2022 and later refiled, and that federal authorities captured him in Spain and brought him back to the United States. 14 News quoted Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers saying the office had been preparing for about three years, that this was a trial dismissed before she became prosecutor, and that the case took an international arrest warrant to Spain, working with people in D.C., Spanish authorities, and the FBI. 14 News quoted her saying, "He received 120 years today. We're happy with that sentence," and, in another of her remarks, "I think Vandenberg County is safer." The county named in the rest of that story, and in WEHT's story, is Vanderburgh. 14 News reported family members testified and asked the judge for the maximum, saying he is still a danger to them. Moers told 14 News, "Justice is never truly served in any of these cases because you can't bring someone back or take away what happened, take away someone's pain and injuries. But I hope that this gives them some finality to this case." Those are the prosecutor's comments after the hearing. The term the outlets reported the court imposed is 120 years, and the count-by-count figures 14 News printed do not add up to that total. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.