A suburban Philadelphia man was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a man who was killed after answering a Craigslist ad for an all-terrain vehicle.
Jurors in Philadelphia deliberated about five hours before announcing a verdict Tuesday in the case of Thomas Coffee, 25, of Willow Grove, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Common Pleas Judge Glenn Bronson immediately sentenced Coffee to the mandatory life term in the June 2013 shooting death of 27-year-old Daniel Cook, 27, of Williamstown, New Jersey. He also imposed a consecutive 50- to 100-year term for three other armed robberies, two also involving Craigslist ads.
Coffee testified in his own defense that he was innocent and another man he knew only as "Stead" was the killer.
"I'm not saying I'm no good guy, but I didn't have anything to do with this at all," he told the judge, appearing close to tears, after the verdict.
Defense attorney Evan Hughes, who had challenged witnesses' identification of his client, said an appeal was planned.
Lisa Cook, the mother of the murder victim, said jurors "made the right call."
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"Justice was done for my son," she said. "Now he'll never be able to hurt anyone else."
