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Lancaster man guilty in girlfriend's arson death

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By Associated Press, November 7, 2008

Last updated: Friday, November 7, 2008 9:31 PM EST

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — A central Pennsylvania man who doused his girlfriend with gasoline and set her on fire two years ago is guilty of first-degree murder.

A sentence of life without parole is mandatory for 40-year-old John Wayne Graves Jr. of Lancaster. Graves was convicted Friday in a nonjury trial. The judge delayed formal sentencing for a week so the victim's relatives could have time to prepare statements to read at his sentencing.

The victim, 29-year-old Angela Readance, died at a hospital eight days after the 2006 fire.

A police detective testified that Graves blamed Readance, saying she poured the gasoline and lit it in a murder-suicide attempt. But a medic testified that Readance told her that Graves did it.