CRAIG, Colo.—A 72-year-old man has been convicted of killing his 34-year-old wife, dismembering her body and dumping the pieces in a northwest Colorado gold mine.
It took a jury about two hours Wednesday to convict Terry Hankins of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in the June 2007 death of Cynthia Hankins. Moffatt County District Judge Michael O’Hara sentenced Hankins to life in prison without parole shortly after the jury returned its verdict.
During the trial that began Aug. 10, prosecutors played recordings of three statements by Hankins describing how he choked his wife into unconsciousness, beat her to death with a crowbar and dismembered her body in a bathtub. Investigators say Hankins led them to his wife’s remains.
Hankins claimed the slaying was in self-defense.
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Information from: Craig Daily Press,
