Man gets life in prison for stabbing man 55 times, burning body in Portland parking lot

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A man convicted of burning the body of a person he murdered was sentenced to life in prison for the crime, the Multnomah County DA’s Office announced Wednesday.

The sentencing comes after Thomas Robert Colon, 44, was found guilty of second-degree murder in 2018. He also pled guilty to second-degree arson, second-degree abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence during his trial on Friday morning. 

Colon will serve the life sentence years with an opportunity for parole after 25 years. However, he will also serve 10 days for the arson, 16 months for the abuse of a corpse, and nearly a year for the evidence tampering.

The trial centered on the death of Andrew Hathaway. Authorities said the 27-year-old victim drove to a residence belonging to two other men, where Colon was also visiting, on Sept. 3, 2018.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, the group was collectively “using drugs and high” before Hathaway and Colon were left alone by the tenants and a physical fight broke out.

“One of the other men later said that Colon was winning the fight and Hathaway was screaming for help,” the DA’s Office said. “The other men broke up the fight and things calmed down for a time. Eventually the fight started up again and Hathaway was bloodied. It briefly stopped for a second time but then continued with Colon beating and stabbing Hathaway until he was dead.”

Authorities said Colon and the other men relocated Hathaway’s body to the trunk of his car before driving it to Marine Drive and setting it on fire in a vacant parking lot. KOIN 6 reported that Portland Fire & Rescue discovered the victim when crews responded to the scene around 1 a.m. the next morning.

The DA’s Office said 88% of his body was charred due to the arson, but he died before the fire. Hathaway suffered from 55 stab wounds and six “slice wounds,” according to autopsy results.