Former Marine convicted of murdering gay professor

Michael Griffin

Bloomington, IN -- An ex-Marine who admitted killing a gay Indiana University professor two days after they had a sexual encounter has been convicted of murder by a jury that found the slaying was intentional and not committed in the heat of anger.

Monroe County jurors found Michael Griffin, 27, guilty of murder late Thursday night after 12 hours of deliberations. He faces a prison sentence of 45 to 65 years in Don Belton's slaying.
Griffin admitted to jurors that he killed Belton in December 2009 by stabbing him 22 times with a knife that had a 10-inch-long, double-edged blade.
Griffin had claimed Belton, an assistant English professor, raped him on Dec. 25, 2009, after a day of heavy drinking at Belton's Bloomington home. He said he killed Belton two days later in a rage when he confronted him about the alleged assault.

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