An Elkhart, Indiana man has been found guilty of murder in Cass County. The Cass County Prosecutor’s Office tells us 33-year-old Joseph Craigo’s trial wrapped up Friday after about a half hour of deliberations. The trial included testimony from 19 witnesses about the night in March of last year when Craigo’s father was killed. The prosecution said a methamphetamine-addicted Craigo went to his parent’s house with the intention of taking what he wanted and then killing his father. It tells us Craigo used a homemade knife to try to slit his father’s throat before plunging it into his neck. Criago’s 66-year old-mother testified he threatened to kill her as he fled the scene. Craigo had claimed self-defense, and later, that we was covering for his mother, who he said actually committed the murder. In court, though, he admitted to the stabbing. Craigo will be sentenced on September 14. The penalty for murder in the first degree is mandatory life in prison without parole.
