In the quiet outskirts of Bismarck, North Dakota, a friendship tragically unraveled on the evening of October 23, 2020, leaving one man dead and another facing a lifetime of consequences. Robert Becker, a 47-year-old male, was found deceased from multiple gunshot wounds in the 5800 block of Burnt Creek Loop, a grim discovery that would soon lead to a swift arrest and a somber confession.
The man responsible for Becker's death was his own acquaintance, 28-year-old Diego Ashton.
The motive, as Ashton would later explain to investigators, stemmed from a place of deep personal pain. Ashton, who struggled with mental health issues, felt that he was persistently teased by Becker about his condition. On that fatal Friday, the two were driving together when Ashton tried to express his feelings to Becker, only to be met with laughter. This reaction appears to have been the breaking point for Ashton.
Following this exchange, Ashton drove them to a closed gas station northwest of the city. It was there that he shot Becker multiple times. After the shooting, Ashton removed Becker's body from the vehicle and drove away from the scene, leaving his acquaintance behind. The weight of his actions seemingly settled in quickly, as Ashton later turned himself in to the Bismarck Police Department.
Investigators arriving at the scene of the crime discovered ten spent shell casings, evidence of the violent encounter that had taken place. A handgun and an empty magazine were also recovered from the vehicle. Ashton was charged with murder. In a turn of events that brought a relatively swift conclusion to the legal proceedings, Diego Ashton pleaded guilty to the murder of Robert Becker in June 2021. Three months later, in September 2021, he was sentenced to 43 years in prison for the crime he admitted to committing, telling authorities he had "had enough" of the taunts regarding his mental health.
