Jury convicts man in Spokane double murder

SPOKANE — Jurors in Spokane have convicted Justin Crenshaw on two counts of aggravated first-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of a young man and a young woman.

After Tuesday’s Superior Court verdict, Crenshaw faces life in prison with no chance of parole. He was convicted in the Feb. 28, 2008, deaths of 18-year-old Sarah Clark and 20-year-old Tanner Pehl.

Deputy Prosecutor Jack Driscoll told jurors that Crenshaw grabbed a knife from Pehl’s kitchen and stabbed Clark 26 times in a bedroom, then posed her with a samurai sword. Evidence showed Crenshaw stabbed Pehl numerous times and thrust a sword through his body after he died, then set the house on fire.

Defense lawyer Chris Bugbee contended Crenshaw suffered from “pathological intoxication.”

Information from: The Spokesman-Review, www.spokesman.com

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