ELSMERE, Del. (AP) - A Delaware man has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the bludgeoning death of his girlfriend.
The News Journal of Wilmington reports 45-year-old Steven Pierce was also convicted of possessing a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony. The Delaware Attorney General's Office said Thursday that Pierce believed 31-year-old Heather Stamper was speaking with an ex-boyfriend, so he beat her to death as she slept.
Court records say Stamper came home alone and intoxicated one night in July 2016. They say Pierce arrived later and was let inside by another resident, who told police he heard a loud noise from Stamper's room before Pierce fled the apartment in tears. An autopsy determined that Stamper died of blunt force trauma.
Pierce is set to be sentenced this year.
