Nassau – A man who killed his grandmother in 2013 by stabbing her 27 times has lost an appeal challenging his conviction.
Jonathan Bethel, 28, is serving 40 years for the murder of 74-year-old Vivian Johnson at her home in Golden Gates on October 12.
Prosecutors said Bethel killed the woman who had raised him since he was six weeks old before he went on a joy ride in her car.
Ms Johnson’s daughters testified that their mother didn’t let anyone drive her car.
However, multiple witnesses reported seeing Bethel driving Ms Johnson’s car before she was found butchered on her bathroom floor.
Bethel tried to cover his tracks by painting over the blood spatter on the kitchen’s walls.
The prosecution led evidence that Bethel bought had a cut on his hand when he bought paint from a local hardware store. He had reportedly told a cashier that he injured himself cutting up meat while working as a butcher.
In his testimony, Bethel claimed that his grandmother had sent him to purchase paint. He said she was in her underwear when she sent him on the errand.
When Bethel returned he claimed he saw the handyman she had hired to paint, dragging her body by the feet.
Bethel said the man, whom he knew as Zoe, lunged at him with the knife and he injured his hand in the struggle. Bethel ran to the neighbour’s house and told him his grandmother had been murdered.
However, when the neighbour checked the body, Ms Johnson was stiff and cold, suggesting she’d been dead for hours. She was still in her underwear.
In cross-examination, Bethel amadmitted that he didn’t check his grandmother’s condition before he sought help.
The prosecution noted that there was no forced entry and that Ms Johnson was unlikely to allow a worker inside while only wearing underwear.
The appeals court said the evidence against Bethel was compelling and found no errors during the trial.
