A Willow man has been convicted by a jury on charges of first- and second-degree murder for the 2018 killing of his wife.
Michael James Kilgo, now 63, struck Hattie Labuff-Kilgo on the head with a wood-splitting maul and then tried to burn her body to hide the crime, according to Palmer District Attorney Melissa Wininger-Howard. Mauls are heavy, long-handled tools with a head like a sledge hammer on one side and an ax on the other.
Troopers found Labuff-Kilgo’s body in August 2018. Her remains were in a firepit off a small, remote pullout area in Petersville, according to the state Department of Law.
During a five-week jury trial, Kilgo claimed the killing was done in self-defense and in the heat of passion, the law department said.
The jury deliberated for roughly six hours before convicting Kilgo on Wednesday of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence, Wininger-Howard said. He is scheduled to be sentenced in February.