Parolee sentenced in woman’s 2020 sawed-off shotgun slaying at east Wichita home
A Sedgwick County judge on Friday ordered a parolee to serve 21 years, four months in prison for fatally shooting a woman in the head with a sawed-off shotgun two years ago, according to court records.
Isaac J. Pankratz, 29, pleaded guilty in March to one count of voluntary manslaughter and one count of criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon in the May 10, 2020, death of 36-year-old Sarah Marie Phillips. Wichita police have said Pankratz and Phillips were acquaintances and had been staying at 4907 E. Murdock, near Central and Oliver, when Pankratz killed her and fled.
Police found her body in the home’s front room around 9:45 a.m. after someone called 911. Police arrested Pankratz the same day.
Prosecutors say Pankratz killed Phillips “upon a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion.” Originally, he was charged with second-degree intentional murder. Pankratz was on parole after serving part of a 30-month sentence for attempted robbery and had been out of prison for about a month when he shot Phillips, corrections records show.
Judge Eric Williams gave Pankratz 247 months for manslaughter and nine months for the weapons violation and ordered the terms be served consecutively, or back to back, court records show.
