Oregon veteran sentenced for fatal beating, burning body

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Iraq war veteran has been sentenced to 15 years in an Oregon prison for fatally beating a man and burning his body.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Thursday that 36-year-old Peter George Jirasek was sentenced Thursday for the March 2017 death of Daniel Cohen.

Jirasek pleaded guilty in May to first-degree manslaughter, first-degree abuse of a corpse and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

Authorities say Jirasek and Cohen were doing drugs together in Portland and began to fight, which ended with Jirasek beating the 30-year-old man to death with an object.

Police say Jirasek and his girlfriend drove Cohen’s car 134 miles (216 kilometers) south to Lane County, burned Cohen’s body and took the car.

Authorities say Cohen’s body was so badly burned that investigators required DNA for identification.