KTVN Channel 2 - Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video - Cancer-Stricken Man Sentenced to Life in Prison
Member Center:
A cancer-stricken man with only a few months to live has been sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting a young relative in the 1980s.
Richard Byrum will be eligible for parole in five years under Thursday's sentence handed down by Washoe County District Judge Connie Steinheimer.
But his doctor says Byrum has only a few months to live as colon cancer has spread to his liver and lungs.
After he was arrested for burglary in 1989, a 15-year-old girl reported he had sexually molested her for years.
Prosecutors say Byrum vanished for 17 years before surrendering last year.
They say he only surrendered because he was homeless and needed medical care for his terminal colon cancer.
------
Information from: Reno Gazette-Journal, http://www.rgj.com
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
