A Twinsburg man will spend at least 15 years behind bars after a jury found him guilty Wednesday of murdering his roommate nearly a year ago.
Jurors deliberated for only an hour in the case of 29-year-old Robert Hanford, also finding him guilty of felonious assault. Judge Tammy O'Brien immediately sentenced Hanford to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 15 years.
According to prosecutors, Hanford and 26-year-old Mark Bates Jr. were longtime friends and lived together in a Darrow Road home owned by Bates' mother's boyfriend. On the morning of Oct. 1, 2017, Hanford called 911 and said Bates had been stabbed inside the residence. Bates was later found dead on the floor with four stab wounds, including a fatal one to the heart.
An investigation later determined Hanford had been the one who stabbed Bates, and he was arrested for the crime. While Hanford did confess to the killing, he claimed it had been in self defense. Authorities say this was "not credible" based on forensic evidence.