Troy man sentenced to life without parole for killing roommate

TROY — A Miami County man learned his sentenced Monday for the murder of a Troy man in a Miami County Pleas Court.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Testimony: Troy man stabbed, beat roommate 60 times before dumping body in Indiana

A judge sentenced Sean Higgins, 25, to life without parole for the aggravated murder of Easton Ho, 25.

He was sentenced 12 months for abuse of corpse.

The judge sentenced Higgins to 18 months grand theft and receiving stolen property and six months for two counts of tampering with evidence.

>> RELATED: Police: Troy man admits to killing roommate; body recovered in Indiana

Higgins was arrested on April 14 after police said he admitted to killing Easton Ho, 25, and dumping his body out of state.

He pleaded guilty to all counts in October after he was found competent to stand trial.

He last appeared in court December 5 for a sentence hearing, where prosecutors and defense attorneys laid out information for a judge in their process of determining his sentence.

News Center 7 was in court during his last appearance when Troy Police Captain, Jeff Kunkleman, testified and said that during his interview with him, Higgins said that he hit Ho inside their home with a small handled hammer. Higgins told the captain that when he took Ho out to the garage, Ho started to wake up and Higgins proceeded to hit him more and put him in the back of Ho’s own car, previously described as a Ford Flex.

At some point after that, Ho regained consciousness again and tried to climb out of the vehicle. Higgins then admitted to the Kunkleman that he then stabbed Ho with an approximately 7-inch knife. He then ran over Ho with the Ford.

Sean Kwiatkowski, Miami County Deputy Coroner, testified Dec. 5 that there were roughly 60 separate wounds on Ho at the time of his autopsy, including multiple stab wounds. Ho was stabbed in the chest and back more than 10 times each, puncturing his lungs and heart.

Higgins drove Ho’s body across state lines to Indiana. Law enforcement recovered the body on April 15 in Randolph County near the Greenville Creek in the area of State Route 227 and Greenville Pike.

>> RELATED: Troy man pleads guilty to killing, cutting thumb off of roommate

Investigators previously said Higgins cut “off the dead victim’s thumb and keeping it to access and use the victim’s cell phone” during the crimes. The Ho’s cell phone ended up being recovered in a field in Troy.

Ho’s vehicle was found in the parking lot of the shopping plaza at the intersection of Marshall and Stroop roads in Kettering on the evening of April 14. The vehicle was covered in blood and the license plates has been taken off, court records showed.

A Troy Police detective testified Dec. 5 that there were numerous searches made from an account belonging to Higgins, including “My friend has been missing and says they don’t want to be contacted” and “How fast does a stream flow?” The location where Ho’s body was located was also featured in the searches.

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