Jury convicts Ohio man in 2018 stabbing death

RIGA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - A jury has convicted a man in the fatal stabbing of an Ohio man whose body was found along a southern Michigan highway.

The Monroe County, Michigan, jury found 40-year-old Raymond Blanchong of Maumee, Ohio, guilty last Wednesday of first-degree murder, armed robbery and unlawful imprisonment in 45-year-old James Wappner's killing.

Prosecutors said the Toledo, Ohio, man's body was found in December 2018 along a highway in Riga Township, which is northwest of Toledo and along the Michigan state line with Ohio.

Last month, another jury also convicted Blanchong's former fiancé, 30-year-old Jessica Morris of Maumee, Ohio, of first-degree murder, armed robbery and unlawful imprisonment in Wappner's killing.

Authorities said Wappner was stabbed more than 20 times and robbed. Blanchong and Morris were later arrested on murder warrants in Aurora, Colorado.

Published: Mon, Oct 21, 2019