Dipert v. State

This is an appeal from a conviction of first degree murder in which the appellant [a boy, 15 years of age at the time of the offense] was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The facts briefly are that he killed his seven-year-old niece, Shirley Ann Watts, while acting as a babysitter in the home. Dipert covered her head with a sweatshirt, tied her hands behind her, placed a sock in her mouth, took her into the bathroom and shot her with a shotgun.

The appellant pleaded insanity and also filed an answer admitting he committed the act charged, but denied that the acts were carried out with malice and…