Man Convicted In Brutal 2012 Murder Of South Boston Grandmother
BOSTON (CBS) – A man was convicted Friday in the brutal murder of a South Boston grandmother three years ago on Marathon Monday.
A Suffolk County Superior Court jury found Timothy Kostka, 30, guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Barbara Coyne on April 16, 2012. A first-degree murder conviction is an automatic life sentence in prison without parole.
Kostka was also found guilty of home invasion. He will be formally sentenced on Wednesday.
Coyne, 67, was found beaten with her throat slit inside her home on East 7th Street.
Prosecutors said Kostka knew the Coyne family and planned to break into their home to steal some valuable fishing equipment that belonged to Coyne's son Richard, who lived in the apartment upstairs.
Richard Coyne usually ran the marathon, but didn't that day in 2012 because of the heat. He heard noises and returned to his mother's home to find her dying on the floor.
She was able to give him a description of her attacker before she died.
Investigators say Kostka took a winning lottery ticket from Coyne's home and cashed it in at a nearby store after the murder.
He then used some of the stolen money to buy heroin in Roxbury, authorities said.
