Portland man gets 63 years in Vancouver double-homicide

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) – A Portland man who killed two friends while they were helping his girlfriend move out of an apartment in east Vancouver has been sentenced to more than 63 years in prison.

The Columbian reports 32-year-old Arkangel Howard was sentenced Monday in the shooting deaths of 37-year-old Allen Collins and 42-year-old Jason Benton.

In February, a Clark County Superior Court jury found Howard guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Howard declined to make a statement in court. Howard’s attorney, Steve Rucker, says Howard maintains that he didn’t kill his friends.

Collins and Benton were helping Howard move his then-girlfriend’s belongings when he shot them March 19, 2017, in an apartment complex parking lot. A motive was never revealed.

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Information from: The Columbian, http://www.columbian.com