Herrin man convicted of murdering ex-wife's lover

MARION, Ill. -- A Herrin man has been convicted a second time for the stabbing death of a Southern Illinois University-Carbondale student.

A Williamson County jury convicted Steven M. Crutchfield, 33, of first-degree murder for the 1999 killing of Chicagoan Michael Sasso.

Crutchfield stabbed Sasso 31 times at the home of his ex-wife, Tracy Teffertiller, after he found the two alone.

Teffertiller tried unsuccessfully to call police during the attack, but Crutchfield had disconnected the phone, prosecutors said.

Sasso died in the hospital the next morning.

Crutchfield was found guilty of first-degree murder, but mentally ill, after an earlier trial. However, that verdict was overturned when an appellate court ruled the first judge should have informed jurors they could convict him of a lesser charge.

Crutchfield is eligible for life in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 29.