An Indiana man convicted of stabbing his grandmother to death and hiding her body under carpet and lattice in the backyard of her home has been sentenced to 85 years in prison.
Anthony Castleman, 37, learned his fate on Wednesday for the murder of Bernice Eubank, 72. He was sentenced to 65 years in prison plus 20 years for being a habitual offender.
A jury took minutes to convict him of murder on Oct. 31 after hearing testimony that he stabbed her 36 times, local CBS affiliate WANE reported.
“We’ll never have complete closure, but this helps knowing he will not see the light of day again,” said John Chaney, one of Eubank’s sons, the outlet reported.
The murder came to light on Nov. 12, 2023, when authorities found Eubank dead outside her home in Markle, about 30 miles south of Fort Wayne. Her family had called deputies after she hadn’t been heard from in several days. Investigators believe she had been dead for “a period of time” before her discovery.
“In all my years of law enforcement, this may be one of the most brutal scenes I’ve ever seen or been part of. I think it kind of shook our own folks seeing something like that, especially when you realize it’s an elderly woman and the perpetrator in this was her own grandson,” Huntington County Sheriff Chris Newton told WANE.