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California man gets life term for murder on train platform

John Lee Cowell
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OAKLAND, Calif. — A man convicted of fatally stabbing an 18-year-old woman at a San Francisco Bay Area train platform has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A judge imposed the sentence for John Lee Cowell on Friday after hearing emotional statements from five members of Nia Wilson's family.

Cowell appeared at the sentencing, held online because of the coronavirus pandemic, but did not address the court.

A jury quickly returned a guilty verdict for Cowell in March and was deliberating whether he was sane when the judge hastened the procedure and rendered a verdict that he was sane at the time of the attack.

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