Fairbanks man sentenced to 45 years for home invasion murder

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) – A 42-year-old Fairbanks man convicted of murder in a December 2015 home invasion has been sentenced to 45 years in prison.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports Steven John Hartman was convicted of killing 57-year-old Ron McKnight at McKnight’s home.

A man who participated in the robbery, 21-year-old Noah Griffith, was sentenced Monday to five years in prison.

Hartman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for killing McKnight.

Hartman also pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill Griffith. Prosecutors say he put out a death contract on the younger man when he learned Griffith would testify against him.

In the home invasion, investigators concluded that Hartman fired three bullets into McKnight’s head and recruited Griffith to help rob McKnight of money, drugs and guns.

Griffith pleaded guilty to robbery, burglary and theft.
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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com