Man Guilty in Rape, Murder of Boy, 13
A jury convicted a man in the rape and murder of a 13-year-old boy who suffocated while tied up in an hours-long assault the defendant claimed was consensual.
Joshua Macabe Brown, 23, was sentenced in Bentonville, Ark., to 25 years in prison on the rape charge, but jurors said they were split, 11 to 1, on the penalty for the murder charge. The judge said he would impose a sentence next Friday.
Brown was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1999 death of Jesse Dirkhising. The rape conviction was decided Wednesday but announced Thursday.
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