CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Dunbar man pleaded guilty Monday to killing his girlfriend and dumping her dead body onto the banks of the Kanawha River.
Bobby Kanode, Jr., 56, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the suffocation and strangulation death of Tonya Payne. The 35-year-old Payne was killed in early February.
Kanode wrapped Payne’s body in a blanket, put it into a shopping cart and overturned the cart at the river. The body was found a few days later.
Kanode apologized to Payne’s family. Judge Tod Kaufman sentenced him to life in prison with mercy. He’ll have a chance for parole in 15 years.