Man guilty of Delaware County stabbing death of Iraq vet

Army Sgt. James Stropas cheated death while serving two tours in Iraq. He almost got blown up by an improvised explosive device. Broke his back in Tikrit diving through a skylight to tackle a bad guy.

"He was fearless in a lot of respects," said his older brother, Peter, the only person who dared to still call him by his childhood nickname of "Jamie."

But Stropas, 32, who grew up in Norristown, went for a late-morning coffee run last June from which he never returned.

He was met in the parking lot of the Dunkin' Donuts on Baltimore Pike in Springfield, Delaware County, by Sean Burton, who tracked him down with a global-positioning device and stabbed him dozens of times with an 8-inch butcher knife, severing his carotid artery and a jugular vein. He bled out in a matter of minutes.

"James Stropas survived two tours in Iraq to be brutally slain by this defendant in Springfield Township," said Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Wills.

Burton, 43, of Newark, Del., was convicted yesterday of first-degree murder for killing Stropas in what Delaware County authorities described as a love triangle involving Burton's estranged wife, Theresa Murphy, who testified that she "loved both men in different ways." She was living with Stropas while still married to Burton.

"This is a classic jealous-husband case. His wife was with another man," Wills said of Burton. "He wanted her back. She was enjoying both of them."

Burton was arrested almost immediately. In his van, police found duct tape, thick rubber gloves, wire ties, a hatchet, a shovel and gasoline, which they believe he had initially planned to use to dismember and dispose of Stropas' body.

Defense attorney Mark Much said there were legitimate explanations for each of those items and accused prosecutors of trying to portray Burton as a calculated killer akin to the main character of the TV show "Dexter."

"There's no scientific evidence that Mr. Burton ever touched the handle of that knife," said Much, who claimed that Burton had used the knife, after the handle broke off, to kill Stropas in self-defense.

The jury didn't buy it. After deliberating for about 3 1/2 hours, jurors found Burton guilty of first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life prison sentence. Burton, owner of the Final Impact car-stereo shop in Morton, showed no emotion as the verdict was read. His body language minutes earlier suggested that he already knew it was over.

"The jury saw the truth," Wills said.

Outside the courtroom, Peter Stropas said he was proud of the man his younger brother had become and had wanted his three young sons to get to know their uncle, who loved to explore the country in his Jeep. But the best he could hope for yesterday was to hear the jury forewoman say the word "guilty."

"It doesn't change the outcome," he said of his brother's death. "But at least the person responsible is no longer free."