COLOMBO, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan High Court imposed on Wednesday death sentence on the man convicted of murdering journalist Melicia Gunasekara in 2014.
Delivering the verdict of the case which has lasted over three years, Colombo High Court Judge Piyasena Ranasingha sentenced the suspect, Anthony Ramson George to death, after the state attorney also had sought maximum punishment as the suspect had two prior convictions.
Fourty-year-old Melicia, popularly known as Mel, was a graduate of the University of East London, and worked as an editor for the local newspaper, Sunday Times, and a correspondent for the Colombo bureau of Agency France Presse (AFP).
She was stabbed to death in her home in Colombo on Feb 2, 2014, while her parents and younger brother were at home. She was found lying lifeless on the kitchen floor.
The suspect, who had previously been hired to paint the victim's home, broke into the house with the intention of burglarizing it.
