HIBBING, Minn. — After seeking justice for 36 years, family members of Nancy Daugherty have been asked whether they’ve found closure from the August conviction of Michael Allan Carbo Jr.

“Partially,” Daugherty’s daughter, Gina Haggard, said Friday. “We know who, but will never know why. And no matter what happens here today, she will never come back into my life.”

Family and friends crowded into a Hibbing courtroom Friday afternoon to watch as Carbo, 54, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1986 rape and murder of the Chisholm mother of two. Under Minnesota sentencing laws that were in effect at the time, he’ll be eligible to petition for parole after 17 years.

While the hearing was largely a formality — Judge Robert Friday had no discretion in imposing the mandatory sentence — it did allow Daugherty’s loved ones to finally have their day in court.

“I’m trying, but after 36 years there is not enough words to express the suffering, grief, pain and frustration that Michael Carbo has caused in our lives,” said David Oswald, Daugherty’s brother.

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