The South Bend man charged in a cold case murder in Niles this year has been sentenced to a minimum of 23 years in prison. 67-year-old Patrick Wayne Gilham was sentenced in the 1987 murder of 30-year-old Roxanne Leigh Wood on Monday. She was found dead in her Niles home by her husband the night of February 20 that year. Michigan State Police reopened the case in 2020, leading to Gilham’s arrest in February of this year. Police say DNA evidence linked Gilham to Wood’s murder. He pleaded no contest in the case. Speaking at Monday’s sentencing were Wood’s brother, sister, and husband. Police say Gilham broke into Wood’s home the night of her death, encountering her. He killed her by cutting her throat.
