Illinois judge gives ex-Arizona man 45 years in death

PITTSFIELD, Ill. (AP) - A Pike County judge has sentenced a former Arizona man to 45 years in prison for stabbing his half-brother to death in western Illinois.

The Quincy Herald-Whig reports (http://bit.ly/1YliICR ) that the judge on Wednesday sentenced Joseph Coffman, formerly of Fort McDowell, Arizona, in the July 2014 death of Dennis Coffman of Atterberry. Jurors convicted Joseph Coffman of first-degree murder on Oct. 14.

Prosecutors say Dennis Coffman was stabbed multiple times with a knife while the Coffmans were in a vehicle traveling from Missouri to Illinois.

Prosecutors argued that Joseph Coffman should receive the maximum 60-year sentence because he had previous convictions in Arizona. But Coffman's public defender asked for 20 years, arguing that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury.

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Information from: The Quincy Herald-Whig, http://www.whig.com