A Multnomah County jury convicted 44-year-old Thomas Robert Colon yesterday for the brutal 2018 murder of Andrew Hathaway, whose body was later found charred in a burned-out car in North Portland. According to the KPTV report, Colon was found guilty of second-degree murder, after previously pleading guilty to additional charges including second-degree arson, second-degree abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence.
The killing, which occurred on Sept. 3, 2018, took place while the victim and the accused were both at a Multnomah County residence with two other individuals. The group was reported to have been using drugs that evening before Colon and Hathaway, became embroiled in a physical altercation. The jury heard that after the fight, Hathaway's body was put into the trunk of a car, taken to a vacant parking lot, and set on fire. KATU detailed that firefighters discovered the mostly charred corpse in the vehicle's trunk after extinguishing the fire.
Evidence presented during the trial indicated that Hathaway suffered a horrific attack; a medical examiner determined he had been stabbed 55 times and sliced six times. In a statement obtained by KOIN, the District Attorney's Office elaborated on the gruesome nature of the crime and Colon's subsequent efforts to cover it up by burning the body and tampering with physical evidence.
