Suspect convicted of killing man found in trunk with 55 stab wounds and burns on 80% of his body

PORTLAND, Ore. (TCN) — A 44-year-old man has been convicted of killing another man and placing his body in a car’s trunk before setting it on fire.

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office announced March 14 that Thomas Colon pleaded guilty to second-degree arson, second-degree abuse of a corpse, and tampering with physical evidence. A jury also found him guilty of murder in connection with Andrew Hathaway’s death. Colon is set to be sentenced on March 19 and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 years.

According to prosecutors, on Sept. 3, 2018, Hathaway and Colon were at the same house with two other men and all four of them got high on drugs. The two other men left, and Colon and Hathaway allegedly got into a physical altercation while alone in the house.

The district attorney’s office said the two men returned, and one of the other men claimed Colon was “winning the fight.” Hathaway reportedly yelled for help, and the other two men intervened to break up the altercation. “Things calmed down for a time,” but the fight later resumed, and “Hathaway was bloodied.” Colon reportedly beat and stabbed Hathaway until he died.

Colon and one of the two occupants of the home placed Hathaway’s body into the trunk of the victim’s vehicle and drove to Marine Drive, where they abandoned it in a vacant parking lot and set it ablaze. Responding fire personnel discovered Hathaway’s remains with 80% of his body “charred by the fire.” An autopsy showed the victim died before the flames due to 55 stab wounds and six slice injuries.

Multnomah County Senior Deputy District Attorney Shawn Overstreet said, “This is some justice for the Hathaway family. They’ve been living with this for seven years. I’m glad we could finally bring them some closure. This was a lengthy, involved investigation with lots of misdirection from others in the beginning. But we saw it through and found the killer.”