'I'm appalled at what I did' Teen sentenced to 11 years in prison for carving a SWASTIKA into best friend's forehead and forcing him to eat cat feces

An Oregon teenager who carved a swastika into a friend's forehead as he and others tortured the 16-year-old was sentenced today to 11 years in prison.

In a Portland courtroom Thursday, 16-year-old Blue Kalmbach told the victim in a barely audible voice that he was 'very sincerely sorry,' later adding, 'I'm appalled at what I did,' according to KOMO News. 

Kalmbach was the last of four teenagers to be sentenced in the case.

'It's almost impossible to imagine this could happen between friends, but it did,' Multnomah County Judge Jean Kerr Maurer said when accepting Kalmbach's guilty pleas on kidnapping, robbery and assault charges.

Police and prosecutors said the teens spent the evening before the February attack sketching out ideas for torturing the victim.

 

Before Kalmbach carved the swastika with a box-cutter, they shot the victim with a BB gun in his private parts and chest, forced him to eat cat feces and hit with him a crow bar and cricket-type bat.

The victim, Dustyn Murrain, bangs covering his forehead to hide the faded scar, sat with his mother and girlfriend in court. He did not make a statement or speak with reporters.

His mother, Kelli Murrain, said the swastika has mostly healed, but her son, who turned 17 Wednesday, still has nightmares and suffers from post-traumatic stress, reported The Oregonian. She said he plans to attend an alternative high school this fall and study to become an auto mechanic.

'The biggest question I have is: "How can anyone do this to another human being?"' she said in court.

Later, she told reporters her son has yet to forgive Kalmbach, who once was his best friend. 

'[He's] still very angry, as I am,' she said. 

Public defender Casey Kovacic said the case is more complex than what has been reported. He described Kalmbach as a 'deeply, deeply depressed kid' who has never fit in.

A statement from Kalmbach's parents said there's no excuse for what happened, but their son was in and out of therapy for mental issues before the attack.

It is not entirely clear what triggered the teens to torture the victim. Kalmbach told investigators the victim had bullied him and called him a derogatory name on Facebook. 

The victim's mother, however, has said the boys had a falling out after a girl broke up with Kalmbach and started dating her son.

The violence began when 15-year-old Jenna Montgomery, acting as a bait, invited the victim to hang out with her on February 10, 2014. 

 

After meeting up, they walked to a friend's home and into a backyard shed, where three boys confronted him. 

When Murrain questioned what his attackers wanted, they demanded he return with a skateboard and money, an affidavit said. They rifled through his pockets and stole his iPod. 

When the torture ended, Montgomery walked the victim out to the street and left him there. The victim was able to make his way to an auto service shop for help.

Montgomery was sentenced last month to nearly 10 years in custody, and 17-year-old Jess Taylor was sentenced to seven years and nine months. 

A 14-year-old was sentenced in juvenile court to 10 years at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility.