Judge gives life sentence in 2009 stabbing death

JACKSON, Mich. (AP) - A Jackson County judge has sentenced a man to life in prison without parole for fatally stabbing a man 91 times in 2009.

The Jackson Citizen Patriot reports Judge Thomas Wilson sentenced 30-year-old Michael Beatty last Thursday in the death of Matthew Cramton. Beatty gave no statement before the judge announced the state-mandated life sentence.

Beatty confessed to killing Cramton during a pretrial hearing Nov. 15. He said he broke into Cramton's home intending to rob him and stabbed him to death in the bedroom. Beatty pleaded guilty to one count of murder.

Cramton's godson, Robert Shelberg, spokes at the sentencing, calling Beatty a "scumbag" and telling him "I hope you rot in hell, you punk."

A jury trial for another suspect charged with murder in the case is expected in late March.

Published: Mon, Jan 09, 2017